What it’s like to become a Hoya for a day

Ask anyone who has gone through college what are the truly important experiences everyone should have before they graduate and they will undoubtedly tell you that visiting another campus is a must.  My close friend Tom came to Georgetown last Saturday and shacked up for the weekend in my absent roommates bed.  Before I continue I will just say that yes, I realize he visited me for Valentine’s Day and no, I do not think it was a coincidence.  Tom and I were part of a tight-knit group of friends in high school that saw each other all too often.  We saw most of each other’s best and worst moments and were never more than a quick text and a car ride away.

Now one train, one Uber, and a confusing phone call in the freezing cold later and I finally had my friend for one twenty-four hour period.  The visitation did not start off great.  I had gave the O street address to Tom to relay to his Uber driver and told him to meet me at the front gate.  After a ten minutes shivering in the cold looking down a very empty O street I realized there might be something wrong.  I found Tom wandering around behind Village A next to the arm of the back entrance security gate.  Having a friend come to relive the glory days in your new home can be a surreal experience as your past and present intermingle, but can also feel a little stressful.  Walking Tommy deliberately by the nicer buildings on campus I felt like I was trying to show an ex how well I was doing in my new life.  I tried to make him feel at home here on the hilltop, but only after I had finished laughing at him for pointing at Healy hall and asking if it was a dorm.

We made it back to my dorm and I sat him down to show him how a real Georgetown student studies on the weekend.  We spent most of the day studying and Tom helped me with some of my homework while I spit-balled ideas for his upcoming essays.

Afterwards I brought Tom to another dorm to meet a few of my new friends and do just a little more studying before we started our night.

When night came I dragged my buddy from a Harbin dorm to an O street basement to a LXR apartment and even Brown house. Tom learned quickly that Hoyas are extremely overzealous in their efforts to make everything a competition.  He had to learn for the first time what fun can be had with ping-pong balls, solo cups, and beers that wasn’t pong or flip-cup.  We fought valiantly but took several losses together and individually in slap cup, beer ball, and civil war and retired for the night as possibly the least skilled team with the most team chemistry in the history of Alcoholintine’s Day.

Does it count as losing if you do it looking this good?

Of course I took my friend all the way back across campus for late night Epi before finding our beds for the night.  We walked back to my dorm in the cold, sang a quick rendition of “My Girl” by the Temptations to Ajah the security guard a went up to bed.

Does the fact that my guest fell asleep smiling make me the best host ever?  Does the fact that I then took a picture of him doing so negate that?  Either way, only a best friend and platonic valentine will wake you up for Leo’s breakfast before your train back.