Abrupt halt on the way to OZ

Australia, for Bhutanese, is more than the fantasy world depicted in "The wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum. There are lot more reasons for just dreaming of getting there. The only incident that must strike is, cyclone of opportunity, where, like Dorothy in the story, could be taken to the coveted land of Oz.

One of the opportunity cyclones for us comes in the form of AusAID awards (Literally, Bhutan gets development assistance of Australia every year; the estimated total Official Development Assistance for the year 2012-2013 was a sum of  $11.4 million). I had the pleasure this year of at least trying for that noble award even if that Good Witch could not greet me with the silver shoes (it is believed in the story that the silver shoes which the Good witch gives to Dorothy have a magical power and properties) this time. My ill luck...LOL!

My process for prestigious AusAID scholarship began as early as March: On 17 March,did IELTS Test at Kolkotta; thirteen days latter, the result(score) indicated I can go ahead with my plan. Then started filling online application after having processed passport and done with document notarization. The dateline closed on 30 April.

(Invitation letter  for interview from the country scholarships coordinator)

After waiting curiously for nearly two months came the notification on 20 June that I was shortlisted for the interview. It still gave me GREEN signal that sometime by January-February 2013, I would be in Australia. Wow! felt simply Wow!. Of the total of nearly 500 applicants, to have shortlisted itself was great success for me (I believe only somewhere between 70-75 applicants were shortlisted).

July 3, the real D-day it was. At 2:00 PM, I was in a luxurious Hotel Migmar, in front of a panel of four interviewers and after having interacted for around 25-30 minutes, I was guided to another room for written test. OOOFFFFF.....the whole process of getting to the land of opportunities was almost done by 3:00 PM. If everything could have gone well so far, Australia was not too far from my dream (but I soon realised that I failed to submit at least three original documents for verification during interview: Degree certificate-it is too big in size( I always keep it rolled), couldn't adjust in my file; Citizenship ID card-was in my wallet ; Academic referee report-The original copy was still with my referee, I just got scanned copy through mail that was accepted in online application; I simply forgot to ask for the original copy). When I was interviewed, the documents were separately verified by verifying group not by panel members. I was not even asked of those missing original documents. Will my dream come true? This question continued.

(Letter of notification stating unsuccessful result)

The question continued till the final notification. I received a letter of notification informing unsuccessful result on 30 August. After having received the notification(through email), I just stopped worrying for my dream !!!

THAT NOTIFICATION WAS AN ABRUPT HALT ON MY WAY TO AUSTRALIA. ANYWAY, I AM AT LEAST PLEASED TO HAVE A CHANCE TO APPEAR BEFORE THE PANEL AND EXPERIENCE HOW PRESTIGIOUS SCHOLARSHIP INTERVIEWS ARE BEING CONDUCTED.
I AM HAPPY THAT I WAS AMONG A FEW CANDIDATES WHO WERE SHORTLISTED FOR YET VERY FEW SLOTS.
I AM FORTUNATE THAT I COULD COMPETE WITH LOT MORE DESERVING CANDIDATES (OF WHOLE COUNTRY)
I AM OPTIMISTIC THAT I CAN DO EVEN BETTER IN THE NEXT SCHOLARSHIP.

BUT, GOD! I EXPECT YOUR PRESENCE THERE, PLEASE BE WITH ME!!!