The Gilbert Family Scholarship 2013 .... and the winner is ....

On November 21, 2012 we came to University of Atma Jaya Yogyakarta to interview the 5 candidates, namely Thalita, Titus, Shindu, Veki, and Sinta. When we met them in the hallway as they were giddily greeting us, I was already feeling guilty for 4 of them will be eliminated in the process of selection after the interview. As we shook their hands, I tried to make some connections with their letters of application, some of which we received not only via email but also international post mail or courier service. The Dean is a friendly man who is well liked by the students and some of the faculty members whom I previously met spoke highly of him. He escorted us to a room that he already designated and prepared for the interview. Each candidate would have a 20-minutes interview and there would be a 10-minute break in between interviews. We asked our general questions, then followed with necessary questions in response to their views and philosophy in leadership. Though English is not their native language, and they sometimes struggled, some of them are surprisingly fluent in speaking. Sinta tutors English while attending university. Thalita is very active in International Debate Forums. They both speak English quite well.

. Because English is not my native language either, I can relate to those who struggle and told them that their English is not being graded during this interview. It wasn't easy to select 5 out of 13 applicants .... and now we are going to have to select only one out of 5. I am very proud of my husband, Mitch on how he interviewed them; professional, asking tough questions, yet friendly and compassionate. I fell in love with him all over again.... after 8 years of sharing our lives together. It was a good time for us. Every one of the candidate hit the soft spots in my heart. I was really having a tough time making a decision.... we both were. It took us several days to make our decision. It was not till after Mitch went back to the States, on November 29th, when we announced the winner. And the winner is ..... Shindu Alpito, majors in photo journalism, winner of several photo contests, whose goal in life is to provide free education for the under privileged children and adults. Congratulations, Shindu !