An honest guide to Georgetown living for new Hoyas

Answering questions for a brand new Hoya about Georgetown made me think, “Wow, if only I had had a guardian angel a year ago to make my life so freaking easy.” So I nobly decided then and there that no one should have to learn things the hard way (except me, apparently) when there’s an alternative – blindly following the advice of someone on the internet.

Don’t bunk your beds (if you have the option)

You don’t need to. My roommate and I only had bunk beds for a week or so, but they are still the bane of our existence. In almost every room, you can un-bunk them, turn them 180 degrees, put them next to one another, and they magically fit just fine. There’s no good way to decide who should get the bottom bunk, and you don’t want any bunk envy or resentment when there’s such a simple solution.

Two-thirds of the dryers just don’t work (in Harbin, at least)

They take your money as if they work just fine, but don’t let this fool you. Instead of wasting your money and getting frustrated alone about the situation, put a sticky note on any dryer that you know for sure doesn’t work. If everyone can get on board with this, no one will discover that their clothes are still drenched five minutes before [insert freshman activity here]. Teamwork makes the dream work, gang. Also, use Tide Pods. If you run out of money, you can try using them as currency. People love that shit.

Take dorm rules seriously

You’ll always hear “This is a dry dorm” and “be respectful during quiet hours.” It’s easy to get carried away with the freedom of college, but the RA on duty is pretty much compelled to report you even for small infractions, and the following process is not a fun time. After you get your best friend sent to a disciplinary hearing for your animated storytelling during quiet hours, you learn that it’s honestly just never worth it to get caught by the RA on duty for something avoidable.

Floorcest and dormcest are terrible ideas

Of course I don’t know this from personal experience or anything, but it just needs to be said. Everyone acts as though it’s an unavoidable phenomenon when, in fact, it’s entirely avoidable. Your dorm is your new home. At home you didn’t frequently run into the random person you made out with Saturday night on your way to do your laundry, did you?

Don’t get attached to your shower…or anyone else

If the showers in your bathroom suck, just go to another bathroom. A good shower is important, and you’re not married to any freaking shower. Speaking of which, there’s really no need to date someone your first year unless you’re dating your high school sweetheart, he melts your heart, and it’s totally worth doing long distance. Or you’re going to Georgetown to get your MRS degree (or MR degree, it’s 2016 guys). Instead, try to focus on making friends. The first year of college is a very crucial time to do so.

Your first friends probably won’t be your best friends for life

That’s completely fine and normal, so make sure you don’t believe the illusion that everyone’s friend groups are completely figured out one month into school. I didn’t start hanging out with my best friends until November, December, and May, and they’re honesty the best friends I’ve ever had.

NSO ROCKS

Go to the NSO events. Meet as many people as possible. Be yourself, and be friendly.  Ask people about themselves. People like to think that other people care about them.

Bring a lot of duct tape

This is very serious. I don’t know where I would be right now if it weren’t for duct tape. Last year, I used it to tape power strips to the wall, to hang twinkly lights, to fix broken plastic drawers, to hide the spots on the wall where I ripped the paint off (sorry, future occupants of Harbin 323), and to reinforce command hooks that lost their stickiness. My personal ideology holds that with duct tape, anyone can be a handyman.

Make sure you have some friends who aren’t also friends with your roommate

Even if you love each other to death, there will come a time when you need to get out of your cohabited shoebox and rant a little bit, and it’s not chill to do that if all of your friends are their friends too. Although, it’s okay if you’re not close friends with your roommate too.

My first year roommate and I had almost nothing in common – I was practically nocturnal and she managed to sleep more than anyone I knew, I was a slob and she was super neat, and she really liked fluffy white rugs while I really hated fluffy white rugs. Fortunately, now we’re the best of friends.

GO TO WHAT’S A HOYA

If you want good housing sophomore year, go. If you don’t want to screw over your three best friends who have perfect housing points – an entirely hypothetical situation that would never happen to me – go to What’s a Hoya. Otherwise you might end up as the sophomore living in VCE wondering why your freshman self didn’t take three hours out of your life to attend some school events for extra housing points.

No athletes? No fun.

If you walk into class on the first day and you don’t see an athlete, you’re probably in a class with a hard-ass professor. Georgetown athletes are obviously super smart, so a lot of professors don’t give them any leeway in terms of balancing being a full time student and a full time athlete. The chill, understanding, and kindhearted professors tend to have many athletes in their classes.

Apply for and join everything you’re interested in at the beginning of the year

You can always quit later on. Georgetown students’ social lives pretty much revolve around clubs and organizations, so it’s really important to be involved in the community in one way or another. Many awesome, organizations like GUGS, Running Club, The Tab (how’d that get there), and Hoyawood are open to anyone who wants to join, and Hoyas still find their homes on campus in these types of clubs.

No Hoya is impenetrable, although they might try to look that way

The really exclusive clubs are obviously awesome as well, but they’re not everything, and no Georgetown student is immune to rejection. You’ll probably experience it in some way, shape, or form during your time on the Hilltop. A lot of people at Georgetown possess the incredible ability to appear as though they completely have their shit together, but remember that it’s just an illusion. No one truly does.