SENIOR VIEWPOINT Don’t Let `Should Haves’ Spoil Georgetown Years By Meredith McCloskey

Courtesy eredith McCloskey Meredith McCloskey in pursuit of a swimming record.

Can we have a time out – for just a second?” I like being in control and on top of things. People ask me why I’m so flustered all the time. I just can’t shake the restless trait. There’s always something I’m not doing and probably missing because I’m sitting down. There’s so much out there that I want to do that I practically have a coronary when I can’t do it all. All at once, mind you.

If you want to punish me, try to make me watch an entire video without doing something else. I just can’t do it. ultitasking is a godsend. It makes so much more possible. There’s just not enough time to get things done otherwise.

But after being confronted by endless bouts of “I should have taken Japanese,” or “Why didn’t I ever set a school swimming record,” I eventually came to realize that I was letting all the silly things I never did interfere with the many great things I actually did accomplish.

In my final weeks at Georgetown, where I have indeed spent some of the best years of my life, I’ve been wrestling with the fact that I still haven’t swam in the Dahlgren fountain rather than reminiscing about all the incredible times I’ve had and expressing how grateful I am for the impact Georgetown and all the people here have had on me over the past four years.

Recently, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I probably won’t be able to squeeze in those intensive Japanese credits in the next few weeks. So, I made an executive decision on how to spend my closing weeks here. I’ve let it go. We’re not meant to do everything. And that’s OK.

But taking a new outlook on life isn’t all that easy. When I was two, I knew all the states in the U.S. Soon after, kids were biting states out of sliced cheese on Leno, so it didn’t seem that exceptional anymore. When I was three, I peed all over the floor when I found out my baby sister was born. You think I’d have learned to deal with disappointment by now.

Fortunately, my friends have had a bit of a calming influence on me over the years. When I first came to Georgetown, I was so busy trying to soak up the experience and keep up with everyone else’s pace that I almost let go of some of my high school ambition. But then my freshman-year roommate signed me up for every club at the SAC fair. That’s right, I was receiving emails from Right to Life and H*yas for Choice. Needless to say, I had some decisions to make. But rather than assessing what each activity offered, I had a little bit of luck in finding my place here at Georgetown.

I joined and quit The Hoya two or three times before following a cute boy to a sports meeting, where I agreed to give writing a shot. He soon moved on, but I hung around for a little longer. Almost four years later, I’m still spending sleepless nights in Leavey 421.

On a rare laundry excursion freshman year I was diverted by my RA into a New South lounge for free pizza. Soon after, I was pledging away the remainder of my freshman year to join Alpha Phi Omega, the national community service fraternity. Never have I ever found a group of such incredibly giving people. I am so lucky to know I can count on them for the rest of my life.

So I haven’t swum in the Dahlgren fountain. But I spent five months in Madrid learning to speak Spanish, albeit with a Long Island accent. I’ve done so many things I never would have expected to do. I have met some of the most interesting, funny and caring people from all over the world. I have the most incredibly supportive family, which has really been the source of all my successes.

And when I finally take time out and think about it, I don’t think I’ve missed a thing.

Meredith McCloskey is a senior in the McDonough School of Business and a former associate editor, sports editor and senior sports editor for The Hoya.