Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Leaving But Never Gone

I am a senior. Barring an unmitigated disaster over the next few weeks, I’m going to graduate in May. Writing about it, talking about it and desperately trying to find a job have made that fact slightly more real to me, but it still feels weird. The Hilltop has been my home for nearly four years now, and it’s going to be strange to leave. I suspect reality won’t fully set in until several days after I cross that stage in the black gown that my parents mercifully saved from my freshman convocation.

I’ve already written about the general strangeness of my last semester at Georgetown. and so I’ve made a mental list of all the crazy, stupid and awesome things that have happened to me since August 2008: The long drive down from Boston, meeting my roommate and freshman floormates, the first of a long list of poor life decisions, T-Pain singing “I’m on a Boat” … twice, norovirus, swine flu, the most interesting Midnight Madness ever (featuring some drunken idiot shooting a toilet), Ohio,Snowpocalypse, DMT, VCU, all the 21st birthdays spent at The Tombs. The list goes on,.but the more I thought about those events, the more I realized that no single one could even begin to encapsulate what my Georgetown experience has been like.

Simply put, this place has been special. That’s not to say it’s perfect, though. I suspect most of us have at one point or another complained about Leo’s, HOYAS/Saxanet (or lack thereof), DPS, housing, CSP, SNAPS or any other number of Georgetown’s imperfections. But the positives will always outweigh the negatives — especially if you know where to look.

When I arrived on campus for the first time, I had this vague notion that I wanted to “make an impact,” whatever that means. I wanted to do something positive that Georgetown might remember me for. Four years later, that’s a pipe dream. And I’m OK with that. Part of what makes college fun is its dynamism; the people on campus change radically from semester to semester and year to year. People come and people go, and now it’s my turn, along with the rest of the class of 2012, to go.

This doesn’t mean I’ve done nothing worthwhile (don’t worry, Mom and Dad). I’ve been fortunate enough to find things that interest me, and I’ve thrown myself into them. I hope most of you have or will find something similar simply because that’s what makes life exciting. For me, the newspaper you’re reading right now that has been “my” activity here. I’ve done nearly everything there is to do in the sports section — I’ve covered sailing, women’s soccer, women’s lacrosse and men’s basketball. I’ve edited way more articles than I care to think about and headlined a number of those. And even if I’d done all of those things perfectly, they wouldn’t be remembered in a few years. What I’ve done here, what my class has done here, is part of a much larger picture. Georgetown is bigger than all of us and will outlast all of us, and I’m not bothered that it won’t remember me.

I’ll be gone in a few months. In a few years, everyone who remembers me will be gone as well. But when I get my diploma in May, I’ll take with me four years worth of memories and a lifetime of friendships and experiences and in the end, that’s what has made it all worth it. And hey, who knows? Maybe I’ll win the lottery 20 times and donate enough money to the school to get my name printed in obnoxiously large letters on some building that probably still won’t have reliable internet access.

TAKE IT FROM A SENIOR is a rotating, bi-weekly column written from the viewpoint of graduating seniors. Lawson Ferguson is a senior in the School of Foreign Service.

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