3rd year behind me

No matter how much I refuse to admit how quickly time goes by, the truth is that my next year in St Andrews will be my last one. It is an unwritten rule that the more years one spends in St Andrews, the more enjoyable being in St Andrews becomes.

This past year might not have been academically as relaxed as previous years, but it was certainly worth it. Academic difficulty increased, but so did the satisfaction with the courses as a wide range of electives becomes available in 3rd year for all degrees. The beginning of 3rd year is keenly anticipated by the majority of the students of International Relations who cannot wait to finally choose their own courses after two years of compulsory theory-heavy courses. While the choice offered in International Relations is quite substantial, Arabic, on the other hand, being a very small department, does not have a lot of courses on offer. Despite that, I enjoyed all of my Arabic and International Relations courses, especially Politics of Africa and Media Arabic.

Looking back at last summer when I pondered upon giving up on Arabic as I was not sure whether I wanted to continue with it in Honours, I think I made a good decision. Although some of the courses such as Classical Arabic or other literature-based courses like Short Stories were not the most interesting courses, giving up on Arabic would have meant discarding two years that I had already spent studying it. Fourth year courses will hopefully bring more contemporary Arabic that I like.

With my last year ahead, I plan to make the most out of it. I do not want to regret not having enjoyed all of the treats St Andrews has to offer when I put on my graduation hat next year.