I know, sad, right… lol

April 2 2009.

Waiting for the phone to ring..

Hello everyone!! So by now you probably know that I definitely did not make it to the next round for the Best Job in the World. I know, sad, right. LOL. Before I go into details, I just wanted to put up top here…

I want to thank everyone so, so, so, so, sooooo much for all of your support since I started this campaign!!!! Your tweets, your facebook messages, your emails — everything! I appreciate it so much. You just don’t know how much all of your supportive words has meant to me. I really want to thank everyone individually but there’s been so many supportive messages over the last 2 months that I would feel absolutely dreadful if I missed anyone by accident. I’ve thanked you all before and I’m thanking you again (and I’m going to thank everyone who messaged me again today), but honestly I could say thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, over and over and over and it wouldn’t be thanks enough. You’ve all moved me and inspired me and I say this so much but seriously, I am just SOOOOOOOO APPREICIATIVE!!!!!! Thank you!!!!! Thank you for believing in me. I’ll never forget all of you & this experience! :)

OKAY! So, moving onto what went down today… lol.

My friends, Denise, Jasmine, Margaret, and Alyssa, came over to be with me while we waited for the moment of truth. We were also joined by a cameraman for Global Edmonton. I was in an MSN Group Chat with about 10-12 of the Top 50 candidates during the wait as well.

Basically this is how it went down. The Top 15 moving onto the next round were going to be called with the happy news between 4PM-5PM Edmonton time. The rest of the Top 50 would also get emails and phone calls of rejection. By about 4:30PM no one in the MSN chat had gotten any phone calls and I was getting super anxious. I was clutching onto my phone like it was nobody’s business. Shortly after 4:30PM Hailey wrote that she had gotten the call. I think after that James got the call, Juweon got the call, and there were a few people writing that they were out. I then decided to check my email and there it was. The subject line read “News from Tourism Queensland” and the gmail preview showed the first line of the email to me before I even opened it:

“Dear Linda, Unfortunately I am writing to you with bad news. I am very sorry to advise you that…”

So there it was. The journey ends.

I won’t sugarcoat it, I was REALLY sad and REALLY disappointed. I had been SO sure that I would be moving onto next round and when they announced that they would be extending the Top 11 to a Top 16, I thought for sure that meant good news for Canadian applicants!!! They’d be able to pick more people from Canada! Is what I, and many others, thought. Sadly not.

After some group hugs, talking to Global, CTV (who came shortly after Global), some phone interviews with The Edmonton Sun, Metro, and CBC Radio, some phone calls to break the news to my parents and my brother, I had come to terms with it all. It’s okay! :)

Like I’ve said more than once, I believe everything happens for a reason and if I was meant to move onto the next round, if I was meant to head down to Australia, if I was meant to get the Best Job in the World, then it would have happened. But I wasn’t meant for it, not right now, maybe (probably) because something else (something better?) is out there for me, this summer, later this year, or maybe next.

Either way, being involved in this entire process has seriously been one of the best experiences of my life. I’ve met so many wonderful people both in real life and online, friendships that I hope last for a very long time, tips and tricks of the media trade, made contacts with maybe my potential future employers, and the list goes on. I started taking this blogging thing more seriously and doing it more frequently. I started video blogging and that was really fun! (I still intend to continue video blogging! :D) I’ve made my face and name recognizable throughout the country (though people are likely to forget it pretty soon, LOL but still) and I’ve grown as a person. I’ve learned so much, I’ve expanded my horizons, and I could not be more excited for whatever comes next.

I’ve always been goal-oriented. I’ve always been determined. I’ve always had big plans for my life and this entire Best Job experience has only fueled that deterministic flame. I’ve always had big plans for myself and now more than ever that rings true.

Plus at least this means I’ll be around for my brother’s wedding in July. ;) And also, I was waiting to see if I would be heading to Australia before looking into getting a new phone because my current one has a ridiculous amount of issues. Now that it looks like I won’t be heading down there (anytime soon, but certainly sometime in the future), I’m looking into getting a Blackberry Storm! :) And to tack onto that, I am definitely making some plans to travel this summer. I.Love.Traveling! Oh and I am also going to legit learn how to snorkel and scubadive now anyway! :) And I was looking into indoor bungee jumping at the West Edmonton Mall Waterpark before, as part of my Best Job campaign to show that I’m adventurous and what not (it didn’t happen though), but well, I still fully intend to do it now! :)

Now I leave you with these two pictures my friend Denise & I took today:

Us being pouty and (fake) angry. ;)

Also here’s the Global Edmonton segment that ran today… I apologize for how much of a mess I look.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eux0Wz4fEs&hl=en&fs=1]

Also, BEST OF LUCK TO THE TOP 16 and especially those who are from the Ning forums! (Lookin atchu Juweon!)

Thanks again everyone.

Linda :)