History, Part 2

Back to the story…

So after Mizzou puts us through an application and interview process, I received a letter in December that I was formally accepted to be a volunteer at the 2008 Olympics…sort of. Actually, I was formally accepted as a candidate for a volunteer position. I’d been accepted by Mizzou, but now the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG) wanted to test me themselves.

Candidate or no, I was excited just to make it to the next level. A bunch of friends and I went to a local sushi joint to celebrate. (Yes, I’m aware sushi is from Japan, but Columbia, Missouri isn’t what you’d call a big city. I was happy just to get rice.) It was fun, although I did spend most of the time teaching everyone how to use chopsticks and keeping the guys from pelting each other with wasabi.

But the spot in China was no sure thing. Mizzou had accepted 61 candidates, and BOCOG only had 51 slots. The upcoming test would decide who went.

We took night classes twice a week to prepare – which was tough, because we had absolutely no idea what the test would be over. Frantically, we studied the poorly-translated sports guides they’d given us and caught up on Chinese culture.

Turns out, none of it would help. They tested us over note-taking and quote gathering, which is most of what we’ll be doing in Beijing for the Olympics News Service. We watched a beach volleyball game and wrote a story on it, and then we gathered quotes from recordings of athletes after competitions. We also presented a debate to prove our proficiency in English.

In March, we found out all the Mizzou kids were accepted, which means we did so well that they extended 10 extra slots for us!

So that’s what it took to get here. After all the classes, tests, lectures and books, I’m ready just to be there. And a week from now, I will be. Anyone have any advice?