Last words
Finally back in Montreal after a crazy 2 months abroad! I can’t believe how fast time has flown by.
This GA has been a cocktail of positive and negative emotions, moments of sanity and somnolence. Before I reflect on the objectives I have set myself for this GA, here are some general life lessons I have learned from this experience:
1) Do not ever book your airplane tickets as close to each other as I did.
2) Always have snacks on you. They will never give you up nor let you down (insert Rick roll)
3) It is physically possible to live on 3h of sleep per day, although not recommended in the long term.
4) When mexican salsa says piquante, it’s piquante. Also look out for bits of grasshoppers in there, it’s for the crunch.
Important things being said, here is my review on this GA:
1) Survive: check…?
To be honest, I cannot say that I was particularly impressed by my performance during this GA: I passed out (read: forced nap) many times during plenary sessions, which means I have missed quite a lot of what went on. I had to unfortunately leave before other delegates of my team because I needed to sleep, something that I could not help and that I wish I could have done otherwise. However, I did actively participate in SCORE sessions and defended the interest of IFMSA-Quebec as best as I could, which is one of my top priorities for this GA.
2) Sign all SCORE contracts as planned: check!
I was quite nervous about the contracts fair, given how chaotic it was during the MM2016 for the exchange fair. However, things went well and we got the majority of the contracts we agreed on through email! Unfortunately one sought-out country cancelled, but we signed with another very interesting one, so all is well! We can now officially confirm that we will have about 10% contracts this year in SCORE than our last! Woohoo!
3) Rock the poster fair: check-ish?
This is the first time the exchanges committees do this, and it has been quite successful! I mostly took this time to double-check with all our partners on the number of contracts we were signing, and it’s been quite a productive session!
4) Meet old friends and make new ones: check!
It was wonderful seeing familiar faces again (they seem to never change!) Very prideful moment to see how far these friends have gone in their academic and IFMSA careers, and it is always a joy to meet new faces (although I would have like to meet more!)
5) Enjoy my last GA: more or less check
I was hoping this will be the most memorable one, and it was but not always for positive reasons: logistics were pretty bad at times and it made everyone very frustrated and tired (me included). I had a wonderful time, but unfortunately I have to admit it did not wow me as much as MM2016 did. Quite a shame, but I’m still very glad for this experience.
Through the highs and lows, I stay very motivated for this coming year as NORE-in for a second term and the rest of my term with the SCORE Supervising Board. I can’t wait to see the team again and I can only imagine the wonderful things that we will achieve this year.
Hasta la proxima!
Xiya