For the past couple of weeks, everyone at Temple Rome has been experiencing a stressful workload. Papers, presentations, and projects galore, and now finals are slowly approaching. It’s so hard to believe that the semester is almost over- only two weeks left!
But last night, the school held an event to take everyone’s minds off the chaos of school. And thank goodness for that, because lately I’ve been so overwhelmed. For the past few weeks, students have been preparing for the Temple University Rome Jam Session, which was being promoted all over the school with creative flyers. Also, I had been hearing people practicing drums and guitar, and even ukulele; This got me even more interested in what the Jam Session would be like.
I was really impressed to see that the school brought in lighting, a projector, and a stage for the event. All the students were invited to the show, as well as faculty and professors, and even some local Italians. It was exciting to see how many people showed up; there were probably about 150 of us!
Lucky for me I had a front row seat, so I got to see everything up close. The Jam Session was hosted by Gianni, our Student Affairs Coordinator, who kept the audience laughing and upbeat the whole show. There were many short clips and videos that were projected in between acts, which were very entertaining and fun to watch. Aside from lots of singing, dancing, and instrumentals by students, there were also plenty of acts from local Romans. I got to hear some incredible vocals and even a comedy act! The Jam Session was very well organized, and at the end there were even refreshments. I thought this was a great way to integrate the students with the community that surrounds our school.
The show lasted about two and a half hours and never had a dull moment. Everyone was clapping, cheering, and laughing throughout the entire Jam Session. It was great for everyone to come together, put all of our work aside for one night, and just relax and enjoy ourselves. It made me really happy to be a part of Temple Rome, and I almost felt a little sad. I know that in only a couple of weeks, the program will be over and everyone will be traveling and heading home. I really got to know a lot of people this semester and made a ton of new friends. Temple University Rome is truly a community of people.
So now I’m feeling refreshed and ready to conquer my upcoming finals. I am, however, more than excited for the weekend. I’ll be traveling to Scotland to visit my boyfriend and relax before the mayhem of finals fully kicks in!