Is there a pause button I can hit?!?

I keep thinking I've had the most stressful and busy week of my life, and then a new one starts. I apologize for all the late posts, once again. This post is about April 7th-12th.

As of April 12th, I have 30 days left in Rome. This absolutely insane. On one hand, I'm excited to get home, to see my family and my friends, to come back to Castleton in the fall, and to finish college. On the other hand, the idea that I won't be in Europe in 30 days is terrifying. I've gotten very used to my life here, all the small hassles and the slowly disappearing language barrier. I'm able to hold conversations, but there are still a lot of vocabulary missing for me.

Other than the fact the I'm almost finished this semester, I've been thinking a lot about my MUN class. Our final deadlines for position papers was the 13th, but I uploaded mine on the 12th, just to be safe. I had been working on these papers for the last month, so for them to be finally done and turned in is nice.

I've also been named Head Delegate for our Delegation. Our previous Head Delegate has to fly home and will not be able to attend, so I stepped up and was voted the new Head Delegate. Ellen, the previous Head, was auditing the class as this was the third time she had taken it. She was just doing it to be able go to MUN again, and as a result, wasn't very active as our Head Delegate, but I have been stepping up over the past three months, and now it is my official title.

My teacher isn't a hundred percent sure what it means officially at the conference to be the Head Delegate, but unofficially I'll be checking in to make sure everyone is in their committees, make sure everything is running smoothly, calm down people when they get stressed out. Luckily, it's all stuff I'm good at.

I am starting to think that after college I want to have a career that allows me to use the skills I've gained in this class. I would like to do something with diplomacy, but probably not with the UN. I respect the UN and all it does, but it is unfortunately not as effective as it could be, at least for the General Assembly. I think I want to work for an IGO or NGO that does make progress, in a significant way. I want to be part of real change that actually helps the world.

The closer we get to finals, the more projects my teachers assign. They're all listed in my syllabi, so it wasn't unexpected, but still all at the same time. This is my schedule for the next four weeks:

• 4/13: Composition in Italian due, as well as write-up of how the oral presentation prep is going.
• 4/14: Turkish Minister Presentatino - Extra Credit for Two Classes
• 4/15: Memo due for ECPO course, worth 20% of my grade
• 4/16: Debate in IA 200 on Feminism from an Int'l Relations POV
• 4/16: Lecture given by FAO to promote their MUN in September, which I won't be around for, but FAO may have info/be able to answer questions of mine for my MUN
• 4/17: MUN Class, full day of mock committee, must know all Parliamentary phrases, esp. since we have a guest that day. Second Draft Resolution is due, on agriculture and food security
• 4/18: ISA trip to Ninfa and Sermoneta, which I may pass on since it's a week away from MUN
• 4/21 or 22: Oral presentation on Food in Italy, throughout it's regions.
• 4/23-4/27: MUN Conference in the Hague.
• 4/28 or 29: Italian Final Oral Exam
• 4/30: IA 200 Term Paper Due (completed by 4/29)
• 4/30: IA 360 MUN Reflection Paper Due (completed by 4/29)
• 4:30-5/3: Trip to Ireland
• 5/4: Last day of classes
• 5/5: Study Day for Exams
• 5/6: ECOP Final Exam
• 5/7: Italian Final Written Exam
• 5/7: IA 200 Final Exam
• 5/12: Fly Home

This is in addition to all my classes, which will still meet and have regular homework assignments, and anything that will come up with the volunteer club and cultural immersion. It's just a lot all in the next few weeks. But on the 12th, when I come home, the only thing I have to do is fight jet lag and slowly unpack. It will be bittersweet to leave, but I am so looking forward to catching up on sleep.