What your first semester at Georgetown teaches you about life

As of this time last year, my knowledge of Georgetown was Patrick Ewing and Otto Porter.  One semester and about a dozen free blue and gray t-shirts later I can say that Georgetown was a smart decision.  If you can deal with the single dining hall and don’t get lost in a dorm hallway then the hilltop campus has a lot to offer.  The tour guides can tell you all about the traditions of the school and the exciting opportunities living in Georgetown provides, but first impressions can mean a lot and many of the school’s endearing qualities are not likely to end up in an informational pamphlet.  These are the first thoughts on Georgetown told in real time by a new student.

Every day is leg day

This is where I die

There are no jokes to tell here.  Making fun of the stairs on this campus or their victims is tempting fate and anyone who values their health and dignity would be smart to respect the stairs for the deathtraps they are.  If you want to get from one building to another around here then more than likely you will be taking one ore two staircases.  They are of all sizes and levels of steepness and become deathtraps when wet or icy.  Someone you know will in some way injure themselves on a staircase while you are here and there’s not much more you can do about it then watch your step and pray the law of averages does not catch up to you. Many students will tell you that one of the initial thoughts every time after waking up from a night of fun and possibly a little too much drinking is “how did I not fall on the stairs last night?”

You can say Bill Clinton lived in your dorm

Apparently Wild Bill had calmed down by the time his residence was White with pillars in front and radical protesters lining the garden.  I say this because he must have been kicked out of every dorm on campus judging by how many of my friends swear he lived in their building as a student.  You’d think that would be enough.  Not for us Hoyas, even though we can agree he definitely lived in our Harbin Hall his freshman year, my poor misinformed friends on the second floor are sure he lived in their hallway while I know for a fact Mr. President was a Harbin 6 man.

It’s like living in nerd Hollywood

Chinese president Xi Jinping, future American president Bernie Sanders (fingers crossed), and Spanish King and alumnus Felipe VI have all visited campus during the 2015 fall semester and many members of the GU community got the chance to see Pope Francis as he visited the nation’s capitol. Beat that.

Our mascot can skateboard

Need I say more?

Describing a Hoya is satisfying for a while

If you decide that Georgetown is the place for you, then there is probably some part of you that loves dropping unnecessary knowledge on people.  If you want to go even further, when asked, “What is a Hoya?” just say “yes”.  Trust me, people love it when you’re tongue-in-cheek with them.

Most people are strangely welcoming

Social life plays an important role in how comfortable freshman can feel on a campus.  If you are at the age where you’re looking at schools to attend, especially for guys, you will probably hear someone say that freshman year is tough because you won’t get an invite to most of the cool parties.  Of course the people who chose Georgetown certainly didn’t do it for its party life and hunting for a dorm party with a pack of eight guys is most likely not going to end well, but I can say that from frats, to athletic teams, to clubs there are places where even a freshman guy can be welcomed in and handed a cold refreshment.

There’s a lot of cheap food

With only one dining hall, you will probably learn to love some of the off campus eateries.  Yes being in the city means things might cost a little more on average but the variety of fast food, junk, and delivery means you can never be bored eating a college student’s diet in Georgetown.

Eat like a king for the first month on campus as you are bombarded with coupons and gift cards to the various restaurants in the area.  Some helpful advice, organize what deals you have and use them.  They almost all expire quickly and there is no worse feeling than finding a coupon for a free meal in your desk that expired a week prior. Get a thirty rack with your sandwich at Wisemiller’s, pick up from Wingo’s for Sunday football, or order Domino’s to your dorm (or just look for the guys carrying a stack of ten pizza boxes to some event and try to steal a slice).  Just be careful taking your chances with Chipotle.

Georgetown is for dog lovers

If you are at all like me, then you came to campus with the intention of getting as mush face time with Jack the bulldog as is possible.  Although he is a rare sight in day to day life, students often get the chance to walk the beloved mascot on the front lawn and during holiday weeks you might even get a chance to see him showing off his festive spirit.  Whether English bulldog or not spending any amount of time outside campus in the Georgetown neighborhood will provide you with plenty of interaction with some of the furrier residents of the area.