Summer is near

Second semester started a month ago. I have already completed one assignment, where my task was to play the role of a British diplomat in Zimbabwe preparing a paper for a group of British MPs planning an official visit to Zimbabwe. The form for my assignment was taken directly from the UK’s Foreign Office website.

I have three subjects this semester: Power, Conflict and Development in Africa; Intelligence and International Security; and the Age of Propaganda: International Politics and Mass Persuasion in the Twentieth Century. I had been looking forward to them ever since September. By coincidence, my 3 favorite subjects out of the 6 subjects in my second year were scheduled for the second semester. If I had a time machine, I’d really love to go back in time, see myself while at the Petr Bezruč Elementary School in Frýdek-Místek, and tell the little David to cheer up and imagine that, in the future, there would be a time when he’ll love going to school, look forward to it, and even do his ‘homework’ with pleasure.

March brings a rapid weather change to Aberystwyth. The sun clears the morning mist, and once the thermometer crawls above 11 °C, hardy Celts break out their shorts, Crocs and sunglasses. Beaches are eventually so crowded that seagulls have virtually no room to land. March is a sly month too. Students finally leave their homes, streets are full of booths, and ice cream sells on every corner. The problem is that March is also the month when all of the written assignments in the second semester are due, and I will take the liberty to speak for all students and assert that it is very hard to focus on research and writing when the weather is so lovely. At any rate, let’s not forget that duties come first, so we have to take the sun outside as motivation rather than distraction.