VCW 301

After living here for a month, I finally took pictures of my dorm room for you all to see. Enjoy!

My white chair folds up when not in use, and my laundry hamper rests on my tub of food

My foot stool and part of my bed and desk 

The view from our door is mostly Kaitlin's side of the room

My wind chime hangs from our door-stopper

My rain boots and umbrella

Our door featuring my wardrobe, a poster Gracie got me for Christmas, and my colorful towels

My bed, window, and wardrobe

The succulent that Cassie gave me with the little pig that Haleigh gave me

The back of my wardrobe is covered in photos and art and poetry

The back of my wardrobe and its many pictures. The crucifix at the top was my mother's in college.

My desk

My shelves of novels, textbooks, water bottles, and keepsakes

Decorations of the wall above my desk

Decorations and reminders on the wall next to my desk

My roommate Kaitlin, her bed, and our refrigerator

Our shower curtain with dragonflies

CLASSES!

My mother recently told me that my great aunt Judy (hi!!) was curious about my classes here at Georgetown. To satisfy her curiosity and perhaps yours, here I detail my classes and what exactly I'm studying.

This semester, I am taking five courses that sum to fifteen credit hours. These courses are:

1. Intro to Ethics, taught by Nancy Sherman (and my TA is Karen Rice)
2. Advanced Spanish 1, taught by Ana Levenson
3. Intro to Language, co-taught by Sean Simpson and Caitlin Elizondo
4. History Focus: Early Modern Women, taught by Amy Leonard with TA Sylvia Mullins
5. Ignatius Seminar (Georgetown College first-year seminar) entitled Serving the Common Good, taught by Bette Jacobs

Today I finished my fourth week of classes, although I still have not had a full week. Georgetown eases its students into class: three days of classes the first week, four the second, and all five the third. In my case, however, and in the cases of my classmates for Intro to Ethics, we will have our first full week next week due to our professor's religion. Nancy Sherman observes the Jewish holidays, which happened to fall on our class days this year, so we did not have class on Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah. Despite this anomaly, I now have a fairly good idea of my class schedule and workload.

So far my favorite class has been my history class, which examines women in early modern Europe (roughly 1400 - 1789 C.E.). The professor is phenomenal, the material is highly interesting, and I'm thrilled that I was not required to buy any of the textbooks for the class. (God bless Lau's reserves system.) I have also greatly enjoyed my linguistics class (Intro to Language), which was a relieving discovery seeing as that is my major.

Now is a great time to explain: what is linguistics? "So how many languages do you speak?" is the first question any linguistics major will get. Coincidentally, I speak two, but polyglotism is not required to be a linguist. On the first day of class, my professor presented an excellent analogy: "To drive a car, you don't need to know what's going on under the hood. You just know how to drive it. To speak a language, you don't need to know how it works; you just know how to speak it. A linguist is to language what a car mechanic is to cars." It can be pretty complicated!

My ethics class has fairly interesting material, much to my pleasant surprise. Prior to coming to Georgetown, I had a less-than-favorable view of the study of ethics and philosophy as a field that dedicated itself to arguing. So far I've found that ethics, or at least at the intro level, is more about describing different schools of thought and questioning morality as a whole. As an added bonus, this class satisfies half of my core requirement in philosophy!

Having a Spanish class again is a nice familiarity. Unfortunately, this is also Georgetown, so I'm no longer the best student in my Spanish class. It's an adjustment for sure.

My seminar is about nonprofits and NGOs, and although it's had a slow start, I feel like we're really getting started now. We will have various guest speakers and even have the opportunity to go to a gala later in the semester! We will meet the former CEO of the Gates Foundation, and the former CEO of National Geographic. Our major project for the semester is a case study on a 501 (c) (3), and because of this class I actually know what that means! (Life Teen is a 501 (c) (3) as is the Girl Scouts and so many more!)

Overall, academics have pleasantly surprised me. Classes are efficient, covering vast ranges of material in just 50 minutes, and professors are generally pleasant. Three of my professors tell us to call them by their first names, much to my Georgian discomfort. (I still call all of my best friends' parents "Ms" and "Mr" despite being part of the family for years.) Southern manners are not something that leaves you quickly.

My grades are, as of yet, unknown! I have had very few assignments, and have no way of knowing my class averages. That reality is mildly terrifying for a Fulton County overachiever who could check her grades on Home Access any time she wanted in high school. It's my understanding that the first semester of college often destroys grades, so as long as I maintain a 3.0 GPA my first semester, I will not panic. (Parents—this is not my goal GPA. Do not panic or think I am lowering my standards!)

Here's to a good semester with good grades and lots of learning!

Day 30

Today is the last day of my first month at Georgetown. My Georgetown friends may argue with me—they have very strong opinions of the duration of a month—but I have been at Georgetown from August 26, 2015 to September 25, 2015.

I find it impossible to describe this month succinctly. Life-changing events have occurred, and mundane events have too. My best summary of my past month is my intense gratitude. Still it all feels like a dream, and eventually I will wake up back in Georgia with a cat on top of me and sisters chattering as they get ready for school and Chattahoochee waiting for me to start the day. I suspect that I will never stop feeling this way. I am so grateful to live in this dream world.

I have found myself a core group of friends. These losers, as I tend to affectionately call them, have been lovely company as we attempt to navigate this large world we now call life. We call ourselves "squad," further indicating the extent of our loser-dom. Just yesterday, we determined that I am squad mom; the label flooded me with warmth as I felt a little more at home in a brand-new place. Kaei, Michael, Isaac, Hunter, Margaret, and Ellen—these are my new people. I terribly miss my old people too, and frequently check in with Allison, Elena, Helen, Nikki, Preet, and JVL. Six old and six new friends, all people I am thankful that God created.

Today is Day 30 of Hannah at Georgetown. On Day 29, I saw Pope Francis at the United States Capitol. Pressed against a green plastic fence, I held a Canon camera into the air for fifteen minutes and sobbed as Pope Francis made his way onto the West Lawn balcony and blessed us all. He welcomed us and prayed over us, saying: 

Buenos días a todos. Se agradezco su acogida y su presencia. Se agradezco los personajes más importantes que están aquí, los niños. Quiero pedirle a Dios que los bendiga. Señor, Padre nuestro de todos, bendice a este pueblo. Bendice a cada uno desde ellos, bendice a sus familias, dales lo que más necesiten. Y le pido por favor a ustedes que recen por mi y si entre ustedes hay algunos que no creen o no pueden rezar les pido por favor que me deseen cosas buenas. Thank you, thank you very much, and God bless America.*

The translator left out a few words, translating "dales lo que más necesiten" to "bless them all," but the crowd before him got the message loud and clear. Pope Francis loves his people, and asks us all, believers and otherwise, to pray for him and send him good vibes. People all around us were crying, making me feel less self-conscious about my flat-out sobs. I have been blessed by Pope Francis, and so has my family.

That never would have happened in Georgia. Yesterday on my walk home, I passed the White House and saw John Kerry. That never would have happened in Georgia, either. Georgia is all I know, and being here is so foreign that I can't wrap my head around it. The King and Queen of Spain were here on campus a couple weeks ago. I can't wrap my head around that either.

One Saturday night, I walked with a new friend from our campus to the monuments. When we reached the White House, I asked her, "Do you think the President ever gets used to it? Do you think the novelty of the White House ever wears off?" I wonder if Georgetown seniors have gotten used to it, to this amazing place with its amazing opportunities. I wonder if I ever will. I wonder if I will ever stop wondering how different my life would be right now if I had gone to UGA, the more financially logical decision. I wonder what would be better and what would be worse.

Here at Georgetown, my default mood is happy. I am simply happy, in a place that strives to foster men and women for others. I recently reread my Georgetown application essays; in them I wrote, Georgetown "consists of and creates the type of people I love, people who use their excellence to further the world. Being a Hoya would change my life, and hopefully help me change others’ lives, for the better." I am a Hoya on the Hilltop, this Hilltop of change and challenge and an atmosphere of servant leadership. And that's truly incredible to this little Georgia girl.


*A translation for your benefit, if you so desire: "Good morning, everyone. I thank you for your welcome and your presence. I thank the most important people here, the children. I want to ask God to bless you. Lord, Father of all, bless this people. Bless each of them, bless their families, give them what they most need. And I ask you all please to pray for me, and if among you there are some who do not believe or cannot pray, I ask you please to send me good wishes."