Dear high school seniors: This is why you should commit to Georgetown

Dear potential Georgetown students,

I’m going to assume (and hope) that most of you are unlike me, and were initially drawn to Georgetown for more substantial reasons than believing Nicholas Cage accurately portrayed D.C. life in National Treasure. That’s how I typically answer the questions about why I decided to attend Georgetown, because I quite frankly think answers like “the academics,” “the location,” and “the reputation” go in one ear and out the other — unless, of course, you’re talking to someone who lives under a rock. Obviously Georgetown has incredible academics, is located in undoubtedly one of the greatest cities in America, and is ranked one of the best universities in the nation. However, I think the information available to you at this point in your college decision process is far too depersonalized/concerned with numbers and facts to adequately convey how special Georgetown is. Stop panicking though, I assume full responsibility for convincing you that given the opportunity you’d be crazy to choose anywhere else.

Something that you can’t possibly understand yet is how ridiculously involved and well-rounded everyone at Georgetown is. I realize this probably sounds intimidating (it was for me at first), but try not to think of it that way. Most Georgetown students I know define themselves and their college experiences by so many different activities, ideologies, and passions that it’s almost impossible not to connect with someone (if you care enough to try, that is). I found it incredibly unique to have the potential for an extremely diverse collection of friends for any purpose or situation. For example, one of my good friends and I have lost ourselves in conversation from sunset to sunrise on multiple occasions, while I’m pretty sure another close friend and I have nothing in common except a mutual consideration of Domino’s as its own food group.

This (slightly unrealistic) desire to be as involved and versatile as possible is the very reason that a modestly sized university of 7000-8000 students has such a profound sense of community and belonging. I honestly can’t remember the last time I walked around campus without running into someone I knew, and I’m convinced that most people share a friend or acquaintance with every new person they encounter. I personally think this is an amazing feeling, but if you disagree, it’s always an option to just never leave your room. Evidently the majority of the student body is intensely passionate about all things Georgetown, and will jump at an opportunity to discuss how awesome it is with anyone who will listen. A girl from my high school visited Georgetown yesterday, and I seriously considered missing my flight to Arizona based on some inexplicable need to coerce her into following in my footsteps.

I don’t mean to discredit or downplay the other great aspects of Georgetown, because the traditions, opportunities, and academics really should be reason enough to convince you that Georgetown is an incredibly special place. It would require a short novel for me to detail every reason why Georgetown is simply better than everywhere else, and unfortunately, I have better things to do, an alarmingly short attention span, and no one would want to read that anyway. I only hope to shed light on a pivotal aspect of Georgetown culture that helped convince me that enrolling here was the best decision I’ve ever made.

Choosing a school based on reputation or known qualities can only give weight to a small part of the bigger picture. It is the yet unknown and unspoken attributes you are surprised by as a new student that will make you recognize the significance and correctness of your decision to attend a particular school. When I decided to enroll at Georgetown, I personally wasn’t aware of the extreme sense of community created by these amazing people. I definitely never anticipated being involved in any of my current activities — I never pictured myself as a sorority sister and thought my years of playing soccer were over. By participating in a myriad of groups and activities, I’m not only the typical Georgetown student, but I also actually feel like a Hoya.

Georgetown really is everything you’ve heard it is. It’s a crazy community of talented, eloquent, athletic, driven geniuses, and I highly encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity to become a part of it. If you were excited by the prospect of being a Hoya before based on some statistics and facts, you should be freaking overjoyed now, knowing that you probably aren’t even aware of the parts of Georgetown you’ll cherish the most.

Shannon Burke — Georgetown College ‘2019

P.S. In case you’re somehow still not convinced — if you decide to come to Georgetown, you might just get lucky and end up with me as your moderately capable orientation advisor.