Every Hoya has their own one-of-a-kind experience on the first day of college. Some Hoyas make life-changing journeys across continents to come here to the Hilltop while others travel only minutes from their homes in D.C.

The first day is filled with unbelievable new experiences, new schools, new people, new classes, new cultures, new languages, new friends — the list is endless. And ultimately, all Hoyas have their own special story of the very first day they spent here at Georgetown.

But that’s not what we’re here to talk about. We’ll leave that to our friends at Project Day1. Instead, we’re going to go over a few first day basics that will probably happen to every Hoya when he or she arrives. Here are The 11 Things That Will Likely Happen On Your First Day at Georgetown:

1. You’ll pull up and see an insane wave of activity on the Hilltop. Between the move in crew, the Residence Hall Office workers helping you check into your room, the orientation advisors and captains, on top of all of the other tons of freshmen and freshmen parents moving in, It might seem a bit overwhelming.

2. You’ll see your dorm room new home for the first time! Whether it’s Harbin, Darnall, Village C West, Village C East or New South, there will something about your dorm that feels just right. Not to mention the company will be great…

3. …Because you’ll meet your roommate for the first time. Remember that intense period over the summer where you CHARMS-ed your head off looking for “the one?” Remember how you stalked all of your potential matches until you were ready to “pop the question?” And remember the sweet feeling of joy and love and connection when you realized that you would be living with this person for the rest of your life freshman year? Well, everything you did comes down to this moment. You will meet your roommate today and try to keep an open mind!

4. But you’ll also awkwardly pass that person that you declined on CHARMS and it might look something like this:

5. Similarly, you’ll encounter the person on the GAAP page who was posting 24/7. Although they seemed super cool, witty and confident online, in real life he/she actually looks like this:

6. But not Georgetown President John DeGioia. He’s not one for awkward interactions. You’ll probably meet him on your first day and learn to love him just like the rest of us Hoyas.

7. Speaking of people we love on campus, you’ll also probably meet a few Jesuits. Be sure to make friends with them: Not only are they brilliantly smart and funny, they also might invite you to the Jesuit Residence (JesRes) for dinner. And rumor has it that the food there is “divine.” (See #4 for how I feel about that pun.)

8. You’ll also start meeting what seems like a billion new people. And all of them are going to ask the same things: Where are you from? What school are you in? Where are you living? What do you want to study? How often do you read 4E? After a while, it starts to feel like this:

(Except for the 4E part. We really are always fascinating.)

Since you’ll be meeting all of these new people, it’s going to be hard to get all of the names straight. As difficult as it is, make a real effort to remember as many as you can. It can really go a long way.

9. But, everyone else is meeting this many people also. So on your first day, you’re bound to have someone you’ve already met forget your name and you will forget someone else’s. It’s natural and everyone understands since they’re all going through the same thing!

10. At the end of your first day, you’ll feel completely exhausted. After all, you just went through a whirl of meeting and greeting and unpacking! Again, everyone feels that way so it’s alright!

11. But instead of going to bed, you’ll probably stay up and talk with your roommate and your floor, and then you’ll go exploring all over campus to some of the great NSO activities (Maybe you’ll take a dip in Dahlgren Fountain or sit on John Carroll’s lap for good luck?)

12. But you’ll realize that you just finished the first day of the best four years of your life.

Hoya Saxa and Welcome to the Hilltop!

This has been a collaborative effort with with the University’s Project Day1, which seeks to capture the incredibly diverse stories of GU students of their journeys from their hometowns to the Hilltop. To get involved and share your unique move-in story with Project Day1, click on the link here and follow the instructions on their page. Be sure to post about your #GeorgetownBound journey on Facebook and Twitter, and also remember to post your #ProjectDay1 videos on Vine and Instagram. You could even win free lunch for a month at Sweetgreen or Luke’s Lobster! 

Photos: GifNinja, Tumblr, Georgetown University, GifSoup, NY Daily News