All my eggs in one basket.

I first heard about JET in high school, as my high school Japanese teacher had been a part of it. However, I didn't give it much thought again until well into my junior year of college.

My first two years of college I spent totally convicted that I was going to be a college professor/scholar. While I've not totally ruled out such an end for myself, by junior year I was more and more burning out on the school thing.

Spring '06, I attended an "information session" hosted by a former JET and SUNY Albany alum. Then it all began.

Becoming part of the JET Program is virtually a year-long process.

Beginning in September I checked the site over and over, watching and waiting for the application to be posted.

Once that was posted I set to work on all the paticulars: letters of reference, assembling proof of enrollment, copies of my passport, the whole nine yards. Then a week before it was due, I got started on all those little things.

You know, like the two page Statement of Purpose, practically the most important thing on the application. (written in about 3 hours total, mostly on the day I mailed it, by the way) Oh, fun footnote, the first paragraph of my Statement of Purpose is a sentence fragment.

Finally, close to the wire, I paid waaay too much to overnight it since I worried it wouldn't make it in time. It made it in time!

Then, I waited. And waited. Until sometime in mid-January I found out I had cleared the first hurdle and was being invited to an interview in NYC at the consulate. Then more waiting, and some shoe shopping (for the interview, of course).

The interview was somewhat intimidating, and I arrived there nearly an hour early. I spent the hour mentally preparing myself and conversing with the other interviewees as well as some former JET participants who were there to "calm" us.

The interview itself went fairly well. The interview panel consisted of a man from CLAIR (the overseeing body of the JET Program), a Japanese literature professor from the College of New Jersey, and a former JET/current employee of the NY Consulate. The first question wasn't even a question, "I see you have a very high GPA!"

To which I nervously responded, "Oh? I didn't think it was very high."

After the interview I realized during it I kept messing with my shoes during the interview. I hoped the panel hadn't noticed.

The next wait was the worst. See, I kept intending to put in applications for other positions, finding other jobs.

I didn't. My eggs were all sitting in the JET basket, and I was begging them to hatch. Finally, in early April, as I slowly went insane, I found out that I had made the "short list." As long as it didn't turn out that I was secretly a criminal (FBI background check) or failing to graduate, I would be going to Japan on July 26, 2008.

However I wouldn't find out where in Japan I was going, or what my working situation would be, until the end of May.

Waiting, waiting, and more waiting. Now, 10 months after I first started this process, I'm about to start the actual job. I think it's been worth it, but I'm glad I'm almost done waiting.