Five years ago, in fall 2014, I wrote an opinion piece for The Hoya that I regret. I wrote it to defend my decision to change my last name from Reavis to Volz when I married the love of my life. I had written it in a knee-jerk response to Jasmine White’s original article on why she would never change her last name. I was defensive when I read it because I had just gotten married and interpreted her stance as a critique of my decision and maybe of my marriage. 

I grew a lot in college. Originally, I’m from Montana. Navigating Washington, D.C. public transit from Dulles to the Hilltop felt like my first college exam, and I certainly failed it. While I learned many things during my four years at Georgetown University, one thing I never learned was that my education shouldn’t be over when I graduated. My late introduction to feminism taught me that. 

I hadn’t ever considered not changing my name when I got married. All my foremothers had changed their names when they married. Feminism, and particularly the history of women changing their names, wasn’t something I came across frequently in Montana or in the courses I chose to take at Georgetown. After graduating, I had grown complacent in learning. In a way, I felt like my learning was capped off since I wasn’t in school anymore. I questioned what I could learn outside of a formal, instructional setting.

Perhaps gaining knowledge was dangerous in that way. I got comfortable. I didn’t have the full picture, but I felt like I did because I saw so much more of the picture than I used to before college. I knew a lot about some things, like English Romantic poets, but I certainly didn’t know about much about feminism and women’s equality — issues that so intimately affect my life and my decisions.

My complacency eroded over the five years I spent working for an antiviolence organization after graduating. We advocated for survivors of domestic and sexual violence and worked to prevent violence in our community. We dove deep into examining root causes of violence. It was there that I was first introduced to the deep and wide world of feminism. Women of color, old and young women, the LGBTQ community, survivors of violence and my coworkers all lent me their voices and their knowledge. 

At home, Roxane Gay, bell hooks, Gloria Steinem and other powerful feminists were my new professors. Their books were my new classroom. They taught me that my decision to change my name when I got married was rooted in a history of women as property — property of their fathers, then property of their husbands. Under the historical doctrine, a woman took her husband’s name and then her property was her husband’s and she had no legal right to appear in court or do business. I came to realize that in changing my name and in writing that defensive article, I had been complicit in a history of oppression of women. 

That was not an easy thing to realize. I struggled to reconcile my prior belief that my learning was capped with the fact I had missed such an important lens through which to view the world. My education hadn’t given me the full picture after all; there were still so many things I didn’t know. 

I don’t think I will ever fully understand the nuances of going through the world as a woman, or the full implications of intersectional feminism, but it doesn’t mean I won’t try to learn. It was a mistake for me to cap my learning when I graduated. Now I try to approach new topics with caution and curiosity. I read and listen as much as I can. 

I’ve considered changing my name back. I haven’t yet because I wrestle with the fact that I would still be squarely in a patriarchal system, carrying the name of my father. Feminism is about dismantling that patriarchal system with a systemic response. Name keeping might be a part of that. Or not. I’ve still got some figuring out to do.

So, this article is just my gentle reminder to students: Learn lots now, but don’t stop there. You can change viewpoints and values after college. In fact, you should be alarmed if you find that you aren’t learning after college. 

Leaving Georgetown shouldn’t mark the end of your growth. It should mark the beginning.

Amy Volz graduated from Georgetown College in 2014.