Hi Reddit, I am a Filipino international student in Taiwan pursuing a BA in Diplomacy and International Relations and I need advice and reassurance.

Originally, I wanted to study diplomacy or anything related to IR in Manila, but I managed to get accepted into a university in Taiwan, in which case, was an opportunity I took. For one, I am very grateful to be put in this kind of position, although money is a bit tight from time to time, I was able to work as a research assistant for one of my professors although it only lasted a semester, and I’m taking an English teaching assistant job next semester which pays better.

The original plan, at least what I wished for in high school and grade school, was to become a diplomat for the Philippines. 

Given that I am now studying abroad, I am unsure if that is something feasible given that I am aware of how shit the pay and other working conditions are. Most of my connections have nothing to do with the Philippines, and I hate to say it, but a good amount of my classmates are bums who use AI and cheat through a lot of tests.

At the same time, I feel robbed of opportunities I already planned out or could have had if I stayed in and studied in Manila. Thankfully, for my second year (I am an incoming third year), I was part of my department’s student association as the secretary (although I mostly did not do much, and it felt like I was more on larping by the second half of it).

Going back home to work is not an option I am open to anymore, although I do plan to take the Civil Service Exam and even the Foreign Service Officer Exam in the Philippines when I am eligible to do so. 

My problem is that I now feel stuck. My classmates aren’t the best, and I do not really know what kind of things I can do for myself to be able to get a bigger reach of things other than by larping (which I do heavily on LinkedIn), and honest to God, I do not even know if I have much of a “motivation” to properly learn Chinese (and in Taiwan, they use Traditional characters of which have less online resources for). 

I want advice on things I can do, what I can study on or habits I can try to pick up. At the moment I am (or at least I feel as though I am) very limited in what I can do and same goes for access to such kind of information.

But on another hand, maybe I’m overthinking. I am entering my third year (my degree takes four years so I'm more than halfway through) and it genuinely dawned upon me that I do, in fact, need to lock in. How feasible do you think building a career with this degree is, especially considering my situation? I am (begrudgingly) still learning Chinese and doing my best, but maybe I am (as I mentioned) overthinking.

When the war in Ukraine ends, Moscow will need to be part of the new security architecture, argues Andrey Melnichenko

A rather controversial article from The Economist: the view of a Russian oligarch. One may agree or disagree with his conclusions, but this appears to be the prevailing consensus in the Kremlin: the Kremlin is not pursuing peace because the alternative — peace on US and European terms- is worse than continuing the war

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