Anny Chih

Mark filming me for CBC’s The National

WOW. Today has been absolutely amazing!

The final few hours counting down to the announcement of the Top 50 were torturous! I kept clicking my ‘refresh’ for my inbox and every website that was covering the story. Did I get a new e-mail? Does anyone know yet? Has anyone been contacted?

Kas Roussy from CBC’s The National sent me a Facebook message a couple of days ago asking if I would be interested in being interviewed should I be shortlisted to the Top 50. Who would say no to that??

I didn’t know any of the details of the interview until around 2pm today when she sent me an e-mail saying that she had found an available camera operator (Mark). He was going to get some pictures of me waiting for the big announcement and film my reaction to it either way.

Man alive was I ever nervous! This was going to be my very first television interview. What if I didn’t make it? What if I really bombed the psychometric test and didn’t get shortlisted?

When my mum found out about the CBC interview, she started freaking out a bit too (but more about how the apartment looked lol). She walked into my room and said “Your bed is too messy to be on TV! You should straighten out the covers.” I didn’t think my bed would be caught on camera. But just in case, I straightened out the covers.

The clock ticked on. It was nearly 4pm and Mark hadn’t arrived yet. Now I was really nervous. What if he came just as they were announcing the Top 50? What if I missed the grand reveal? Well, I did miss it.

Mark called right at 4pm when the Top 50 were supposed to be announced, and needed help finding a parking spot. I was instructed very specifically then that I was under no circumstances allowed to check the internet or my phone until he arrived and set up. GAAAAAHHHHhhhh!! I ran down to the car and we parked a block away and walked back with his equipment. At this point I was shaking and really not standing too straight from my habit of crossing my toes when I’m nervous.

He set up and I was finally allowed to click ‘refresh’ one more time. I took a deep breath and clicked…

I checked my e-mail first and my heart sank like an iron tank. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

Then I clicked on the official site just in case. And, THERE IT WAS!!!! My little icon was right there on the bottom of the front page and at first I just didn’t believe it! I clicked on the actual list of the Top 50 and there it was again in a bigger format!! I’M IN THE TOP 50!!!!!!

Thank You Mark for being there to capture the moment! And Thank You Kas for contacting me for an interview!

The National didn’t end up showing the interview but they did play a clip of my reaction when I found out I was in the Top 50. The clip can be found here (it plays around 43:30).