Every Georgetown graduation requirement that isn’t your degree

Most people are familiar with Georgetown’s academic graduation requirements – from two theology credits for any school to four economics requirements and Map of the World for SFS students. However, there are some aspects of the Georgetown experience that don’t appear on your transcript.

Interning on the Hill

Without Georgetown students, I do not think Congress would be able to run at all. The sheer number of Hoyas answering phones, responding to constituent mail, and providing tours makes us an essential (yet unpaid) labor resource. As someone’s who’s been there, I highly recommend interning on the Hill for anyone who is even remotely interested in politics. Join your fellow Hoyas in a time-honored tradition.

Losing your GoCard (at the most inconvenient times)

Your GoCard is one of the most powerful things in your wallet. It gets you access to food, coffee, packages from home, laundry, Lau, and to your residence hall. Chances are good, if you have lost your GoCard, it was never a good time. Maybe you lost it on Friday night of a three-day weekend, so you couldn’t get a temporary GoCard from the office until Tuesday. Apparently there is a website that sells fake GoCards—if anyone gets one, let me know if it swipes.

Using a broken dryer

Doing laundry is a new challenge every week or two: Which dryer will actually dry my clothes? Unless a saint has kindly put signs on the dysfunctional dryers, you are left to your devices to figure out which you should actually put your clothes in. Every Hoya has experienced paying $1.50 to $1.75, waiting for an hour, and returning to damp clothes and towels to start the whole process over again. Extra credit if you pick broken dryers twice in a row.

Ordering a quesadilla at 2am

Did you really go to Georgetown if you haven’t experienced a late night Epi quesadilla? I’m lactose intolerant and I have still taken part in this tradition.

Getting turned away from Brown House under the AEπ administration

The previous Brown House administration was notorious for never letting people in. They were suspiciously always at capacity no matter what time you got there or what your ratio was. Once, a friend of mine recited the Torah, hoping that this Jewish frat would let us in their party.

Seeing the sunrise from your study spot

Either it’s midterm season and you’ve been in Lau all night, or you gave in to your need to sleep and woke up at the crack of dawn to get the rest of your work done. We’ve all been there — at least Georgetown provides some of the best views to light our Lau cubicles.

Getting lost in the ICC

The numbering system on the first two floors already feels kind of random – and then they throw in rooms like 209B, 210A, etc. just to mess up the freshmen the first week of class. The worst is trying to go to office hours or a major department for the first time in the ICC. For example, both the Spanish and German departments are on the same floor – but you can’t get from one to the other without going back down to the third floor and getting on the stairs or elevator on the opposite end of the building. The architect of the ICC picked form over function, leaving Hoyas hopelessly lost and confused at some point in their time on the Hilltop.

Waiting in line to see someone in Gaston Hall

Gaston Hall, one of Georgetown’s largest speaking venues, only seats a fraction of the student body. If you want to see someone really well known, like Bernie Sanders or John Kerry, be prepared to wait in line for over an hour before the event to get inside – and there’s still a chance you won’t get a seat. Take it from me, someone who took a sad trip to Chik-fil-a in Arlington after waiting for three hours in the rain for Bernie Sanders and not getting in.