We have started writing this recruitment blog impressively late, much to the dismay of our wonderful Web Development Director Camilla. But! That’s because we have been having so much fun with our new intern class, which we will make sure to discuss in depth. However, that’s not where our journey as Recruitment Directors began…. So let’s take it from the top!

Recruitment work began when summer began, and we started meeting weekly (which we did for the whole summer, a LOT of weeks) to make sure we were getting a little bit of work done at a time. We started by brainstorming a theme, which proved to be extremely difficult because we wanted to pick something that could encompass the diversity of the APIDA sphere. Alex proposed a convenience store theme, and we really liked it! Conveniently, Sage was in Japan at the time and so there were filming spots (read: convenience stores) galore. Our recruitment video was filmed inside a Lawson’s, and it took almost 30 minutes to get all the clips together. This was mortifying for Sage because her worst nightmare is inconveniencing people, and the cashiers were definitely confused about what she was doing walking back and forth while her mom held a camera. For Alex, he just took over his parent’s bedroom, put a tripod down, and pretended to be the magical recruitment fairy using the wall behind him as a replacement green screen.

mjnkj — Shoutout to Co-Advocacy Director Ricca for doing an instagram takeover for recruitment season. #APASIGMA

As summer winded down, everything started to kick into gear. We were sending interview signup sheets, shifting dates around, writing questions, looking into room bookings, requesting and editing graphics, and meeting with our director Vandita, as well as other E-Boarders about the intern syllabus. The beginning weeks of the school year passed in a blur. We tabled at different club fairs and (illegally) flyered outside of TCC for 10+ hours, which was a practice of getting rejected and ignored while we shouted at random passersby.

Alex: The TCC heckling days were honestly some of my favorite days in recruitment. Lots of rejection therapy, but it was so fun when people came with interest in APASA and what we do!

We had 3 Info-Sessions, which was more than the usual 2. Turnout was lower for the first two but then really good for our last one! The sessions consisted of a slideshow about the intern program and then E-Boarder testimonials and QnA. We even had some APASA Alums come and speak, which really enriched the sessions. Then, the written apps were due, and things really kicked up.

Alex: That last info session was AWESOME. We had around 10 E-boarders telling about their APASA stories and KILLED our testimonial section. One of my favorite parts of APASA is the family and community like culture and seeing that conveyed to potential interns was so sweet.

Have to flex a little—we got so many written apps, that it rivaled pre-Covid numbers! We were ecstatic to see that all our hard work had paid off. However, that did make our job cutting and interviewing harder. We were holed up in Fertita and Leavey for hours and spent our 5 minute breaks peeing, like, a lot (there isn’t a lot to do in interviews besides drink water).

Sage: Delibs for written apps and interviews were intense, not because we disagreed with each other, but mostly because it was all I could think about. I would go to bed and think about the applicants, and eat dinner and think about the next round of interviews, and talk to my friends and somehow bring up recruitment. I was going crazy kinda (In a good way, of course, haha!).

Between first and second round interviews, Kat held an open GM about love languages. All first round interview applicants were invited to come see what our meetings looked like, and the turnout for that was CRAZY. The turnout of intern applicants was equal or even more than the turnout of the member organization representatives. Shoutout to Kat, the GM was wonderfully planned and executed.

Circling up for intros, and playing “Where the West Wind Blows,” which I have now learned goes by a bunch of different names. But super fun! (-Sage)

And finally, we arrived at the moment we were all waiting for… SANTA MONICA! After picking our final intern class, this was the culmination of everything we had worked for. We played intro games with just the interns and then joined the E-Boarders at Tommy Trojan to walk over to the Metro.

Sage: I was honestly sick to my stomach because of how nervous I was to meet all the interns together…

Once we were in Santa Monica, we played group games and then sent the interns on a scavenger hunt across the beach. Sand angels were made, songs were sung, laughs were shared, and we all held hands and skipped into the sunset (okay.. that last part is an exaggeration). A favorite activity was a required race between groups which got unexpectedly intense and had casualties. We now have many embarrassing photos and videos of everyone, which we plan to exploit later.

Alex: I think of APASA everytime I see the piercings I got as an intern and now as Co-Recruitment Director!

But at the end of the day, both of us agree that we love our jobs—and that we have the best positions in all of APASA! Being Recruitment Directors is so fulfilling and all the time we spent was well worth it in the end. To all 15 of our interns: We are so happy you’re part of APASA. Peace out!

Santa Monica 2024 - Welcome APASA Interns! 🏖️