20 Questions

It was the strangest game of 20 questions that I had ever played. For 15- 20 minutes, ten sets of eyes watched me as I gave the best answer I could to each other their two quires. It was the day that every applicant to a dietetic internship wonders about and tries to prepare for— interview day. It is the interview that appears (aside from the direct Providence of God) to be the final determiner of your acceptance into a dietetic internship (DI). It is the one chance you have to convince them that the resume, personal statement, GPA and letters of recommendation where all true and that out of the 100+ who applied you are one of the 14 interns they are looking for. It’s a bit of a dramatization but to some people, that is exactly how the game it played. 

So, what sort of questions did this game ask? Here is a sampling of the ones I encountered:

You are in a clinical setting and the patient you want to educate does not speak any English. There is no interpreter available. What do you do?


You are in hospital foodservice setting and the chef is not following the recipe. He substitutes peanut oil for the canola oil called for in the recipe. What do you do?


Describe a time you were criticized. What was it about and how did you handle it?


You are in a community setting and you are counseling a patient with heart disease who does not read at all. What would you tell the patient and what counseling strategies would you use?

I could continue on but you get the idea. While not impossible, the questions where challenging. At times I could feel myself hedging a question because I uncertain how accurate my specific answer would be. While I don’t think I did horribly, I also do not think I “nailed” it. Many friends have asked me what I thought of the interview. “It went well…I think,” is the typical response I give. I felt more confident with my answers right after the interview than I do now, a week afterward when the lapse of time has afforded me the chance to think about the questions more. But that is so often how it is isn’t it?

This entire process of summer internship research, fall internship selection, spring internship applications and now the interview process (notice it is not plural…I only applied to one) has been an incredibly challenging experience and a test on my faith.  Unlike many of my fellow nutrition soon-to-be graduates and Internship-Hopefuls, I am more intimidated by the thought of getting an internship than on not getting one. Terrible moments of fear have gripped me when thinking about an internship and all that it would require of me. Am I ready? Do I know enough? Can I handle the schedule? What if I got into it and hated it? These of course, are the wretched and often debilitating “what ifs” that God does not promise to answer nor offer grace for right now. I am speechlessly thankful for the persistent and genuine encouragement of my family, classmates and friends. God has been gracious in gradually affording me a quiet peace. 

Now that the interview is 7 days passed, I wait 19 days more until April 1st to find out what the clear, distinctive, will of God will be—yes internship or no internship. During that time I am going to wait with a smile, resting in who God has made me today and trusting Him who will fit for tomorrow.  God is good!