A Chill November?

The days are slowly growing colder, the sky is darkening earlier, and the deadlines for final papers are growing closer and closer, but I see no reason to stop smiling. Yes, it’s true that the semester is fast approaching its end, and with it my time as an undergrad. And yes, I wish I could say that the job search was going better, but unfortunately this post doesn’t end with the story of how I accepted a job with a six figure salary, generous benefits, and all the ice cream I can eat (we can all dream right?).  With all that said, there are still quite a few reasons to stay positive as we move through the month of November.

This week the Middle East Institute is hosting its annual conference and banquet. The two days of festivities will include talks by some of the most important voices in the region, and it will be a chance to see panels relating to both the challenges and opportunities facing the MENA states. It will be cool to see speakers like Ambassador Robert Ford, former Egyptian MP Amr El Shobaki, BBC News correspondent Kim Ghattas, and Deputy General Manger of Al Arabiya Adel Altoraifi and others provide insights and analysis. It will be a great chance to network, gain knowledge, and build skills, so I’m definitely looking forward to it. I also get free food by working at the conference, which is always a nice plus.

In other news, the DC scholars will be dropping by the White House this week. Despite visiting Washington numerous times, and at one point harboring the desire to be president, I’ve never actually been inside the building, so it will be nice to check this location off of my DC bucket list. Maybe I’ll even get to see President Obama (again, we can all dream right?). Home to every president except for George Washington, the Executive Mansion has a lot of history, and I intend to enjoy every minute of it while I’m there. We also get to visit the National Archives, which should be another fun learning experience (to answer your question, yes I do enjoy looking at old documents. I’m a history major after all).

This is a shorter post then I normally write, but the take away is that there’s a lot to look forward to in the near future. While cold weather and papers seem to be a recipe for sadness, that doesn’t mean we should focus on the negative. Yes, the papers will have to be written and the winter coats will need to be worn, but (and I’m getting on my soapbox here) as long as we can find a reason to be happy, oftentimes the negatives do not seem as bad (steps off soapbox). Besides, it will be pretty cool when we see the first snowflakes start to fall (see what I did there?).