Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The lessons behind winning the Golden Ticket

If stories are reflections of the realities of life, then for once, Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was more than a fantasy story merely for kids, as I now understood how Charlie felt after winning the Golden Ticket.

My story began roughly 3 months ago in late April when I was notified about my eligibility to win the Golden Ticket and subsequently, to work for the Chocolate Factory. Now, nobody rejects such an offer right?

(I meant to write in full details about my entire experience
but in retrospective, I think it's better to leave it vague.)

Surprisingly enough, I managed to win the Golden Ticket, a chance to possibly work for the Chocolate Factory and over a span of two months, I went through 7 rounds of elimination. Like how the kids were brought to different rooms as if to eliminate
/weed out the undeserving Golden Ticket holders, I was put through 7 rounds of elimination, in which I spoke to staff in India, Japan, San Francisco and of course, in Singapore. And similar to how the kids learned about the different technology behind Willy Wonka's various chocolate products, I too, learned more about the Chocolate Factory and more importantly, myself.

Beyond that 7 rounds of elimination, was a journey of self-discovery for me as I learned about my strengths and weaknesses. Whatever I did and stood for was put to the ultimate test and as I was grilled, I found out that no matter how good I can smoke my way t
hrough, my weaknesses can never be covered up with motherhood statements. You really need to know your shit.

And so in the end, no surprisingly, I was not selected to work for the Chocolate Factory. I had a fairly good job offer anyway and this was just a bonus. I'd read online that some people detest the long elimination process but like many things in life, I think it's all about perception and in this case, since I got to learn more about so many things, from the inner workings of the Chocolate Factory to intimate details of my weaknesses, I think I've definitely gained more than the amount of time I'd lost. Not to mention a new level of confidence from surviving all 7 rounds of elimination. :) At the very least, I did get a very cool souvenir to show off:

No comments: