Week 5 of classes gone. I'm well into my sophomore year of college, and already I have learned an important lesson. It doesn't stop. Like, at all. Maybe it's a combination of classes and RA duties, but I don't think I've had the chance to stop, breathe, and just exist.

Not that I'm complaining; I work best under pressure, and if I didn't have a deadline, I'd never get anything done. But this year feels like there's just so much stuff to be done. I haven't reached the point of complete despair, which I think is a good sign. I mean, I've only been here a little over a month; being completely overwhelmed already would be a tad bit disappointing. But I will admit that I have been working nonstop, especially over the past three weeks. With homework and Odyssey, duty and bulletin boards, life has been crazy, and I haven't stopped.

Despite the heavy workload, I've managed to keep myself organized, although you wouldn't guess it from looking at my room. You know in all those detective shows, where the grouchy but hard-working cop is desperate to solve the crime, so he puts up the infamous murder board? You know the one I'm talking about: the bulletin board with news clippings tacked onto crime scene photos, red yarn connecting victims and suspects, questions written on sticky notes. That's what the wall next to my desk looks like right now. I have papers and reminders tacked to little cork boards, and the white wall can barely be seen underneath all the sticky notes. I've got reminders of meetings and to-do lists, ideas for articles, doodles, everything. No matter how many tasks I check off, there's always more to take their place.

Fast forward to today, a lovely Wednesday afternoon. Sitting in Arabic class where I am struggling, to say the least (It's not my fault Amazon hasn't sent my textbook yet!). I've got about 10 million things running through my mind. Since the moment I woke up I've been ticking things off my mental and murder board-esque to-do list and adding new things in their place. Walking into class, I was still checking things off (although I felt I was adding more than I was taking off) whilst trying to see if I could make my list in Arabic.

And let me just say that Arabic is hard. Learning any foreign language is. The most important thing I've learned in this class is that you need to completely forget anything and everything regarding any other language. If you aren't thinking in Arabic on the way to class, you won't be prepared. And since I don't know how to say "Send email, do laundry" in Arabic, I was definitely not in an Arabic mindset before class.

We had an oral exercise today. I can read and write just fine, but my Arabic speaking and listening skills leave much to be desired. I partnered up with a friend in the class and began translating our questions from the textbook. And while trying to remember how to say the word "another," lo and behold, you'll never guess what happened.

Afternoons are the most stressful time for me. So while I was trying to translate sentences and still thinking about everything I need to do today, I was at peak stress. Then, the lights started flashing. Everything got silent. We all looked up. And it's as if God Himself was speaking.

"This is an announcement to remain calm."

Today, I think I heard the voice of God, and it was an automated recording. Granted, the voice was telling me to exit the building because of a fire, but it's really the first part I chose to listen to. Sure I might have a lot on my plate, but if I let myself worry about it or freak out, I'll never accomplish anything. I need to stay calm and take a few deep breaths when I can.

And I listened. We finished class outside, and I pushed everything else out of my mind. Without worrying about everything I needed to accomplish after class, I was able to focus on my current task. I'm still by no means a fluent Arabic speaker, but remaining calm and only thinking about Arabic, I spoke some of the best Arabic I've ever done this year. Already, I feel a bit more relaxed, and the next few days don't seem as daunting.

And all because of an automated voice telling me to remain calm and exit the building.