"Roma non basta una vita"

There is a saying in Rome that says "Roma non basta una vita" meaning that for Rome a lifetime is not enough. Yet just like that, my time in Rome has come to an end. As I embark on the second part of my Co-op I leave with a lot of mixed feelings. Living in Rome, was a challenge in many ways. I came here not knowing anybody or what to expect. It was the first time I lived completely on my own, without being part of an academic program, and having to really leave my confort zone in order to settle into my new life. It was also a challenging work environment that constantly had me second guessing myself. Finally, as a city, Rome is a hard place to live in. There is a lot of traffic, people can be quite unwelcoming to strangers and living far from the center made me spend a lot of time on the metro.
However, this experience has also been wonderful. Although the cancellation of the NRCC (NATO Regional Cooperation Course) had a big effect on what my work at the NATO Defense College looked like, I feel as though I was able to contribute to my team and I leave having learned so much about the current international security environment.
My Co-op in Rome also allowed me to meet amazing people that have taught me so much. I have had amazing conversations and adventures with individuals from all over the world and I have been inspired to continue working towards my goals.

I have already talked about what working in a predominantly male military environment was like, but in short, being a young civilian women in this environment had certain individuals questioning the reason for me being there. If I learned something from this situation it is that your work ethic and the products you deliver speak for themselves. Instead of focusing on proving yourself, you just need to continue working hard and doing your job. By the end, I believe that the people that had doubts about me were proven wrong. Not only was I able to show that I was capable of the things I was doing, but I also got to interact with them more, getting to know them and sharing more about myself. I even became pretty close with some of them by the end.

In terms of the job itself, I think that the NDC is a great institution and the work being done to promote understanding and cooperation between Course Members from many different countries is important in creating a more effective international organization that can make the important decisions. Although I enjoyed my work, more than one day coming back as staff or faculty, I would love to come back as a Course Member. I thoroughly enjoyed every opportunity I had to attend the lectures, the discussions and to interact with the Course Members, which gave me a great insight into what being a Course Member is like.

The people I have met within the NDC as well as through dance, my roommate and other experiences really made my time in Rome very special. I got to meet people really from all over and I have created friendships that I hopefully take with me for the rest of my life. I have been inspired by many of them and I look forward to staying in touch.

As a city, I have conflicting opinions about Rome. It is a beautiful city to visit and it is true that for Rome, a lifetime is not long enough to see everything there is to see. However, living here was definitely a challenge. All in all I enjoyed my time a lot, however, I am also looking forward to this new chapter.

On my last day at the NDC, we had a Pakistani delegation come visit, which was a great to wrap up my time there (on one of my first days we had a Saudi Arabian delegation visit the college). However, the nicest thing was after. The whole Middle East Faculty, as well as many other people from the college took me to lunch. It was really amazing to see all the people that wanted to join me for my last day and I am touched they all came. I also received a diploma for my time at the college.

All in all, I am very glad this whole experience happened. I have learned so much about the world and about myself and I leave more motivated than ever to continue to work hard. I am also very sad to leave the amazing people I have met. Even so, a new experience awaits me in about 12 hrs to be exact (I´m writing this from the airport as I am on my way to Israel). At 11:00 a.m. tomorrow (yes it´s a Sunday, but that is how the work week in Israel is organized) I begin my first day at the International Institute for Counter Terrorism. Everything is going by so quickly, but I am excited to meet new people and to continue learning more in order to better understand the world we live in.

So goodbye Rome, it has been great and I hope to see you soon, and next week I will hopefully be writing with great new stories for this new chapter :)