There are some things in life you just have to accept. I, for example, have been forced to accept the fact that I will always be short. I am 18 and my driver’s license lists my height as 4 feet 11 inches.

As I introduced myself to my peers when I began my freshman year at Georgetown this past August, questions about my height were frequent. They were questions that I have grown used to answering. I commonly respond with a little white lie and say five feet – all the while thinking of another topic to steer the conversation somewhere away from my notable shortness. My height has long served as the characteristic first noticed by others when they meet me.

I used to see my height as a handicap, but over the years I have grown to accept it. Although I do feel slightly embarrassed when people ask about how tall I stand, I have embraced my shortness as a unique attribute. Because I have always been short, it is hard for me to even imagine having a few inches of extra height. Even so, my stature does not define me. After completing my first semester and a bit at Georgetown, it has become clear that I am my own person among a diverse collection of individuals.

Everyone on the Hilltop has multiple features that define him or her. No one is simply short or tall, black or white, outspoken or shy. There is no one distinct paradigm of a Georgetown student that would adequately encompass the varied talents, uniqueness and intellect of Georgetown community members.

When filling out college applications, students are forced to be brutally honest about themselves. They reveal their flaws, their weaknesses, their strengths and their goals. For admissions officers, the only way they can identify with prospective students is through the text on their applications.

Although an interview is required as a supplement, the admissions officers have no personal communication with the applicants. Indeed, they know nothing outside of the information that is included in a student’s folder. They have no knowledge of what a student looks like, acts like or how they interact with other individuals. The officers decide who is to be admitted based on the well roundedness of applicants. Because they do not directly interact with the authors of the applications, admissions officers judge potential members of the freshman class on character, drive and intellect – not physical appearance.

Perhaps this is how we all should interact with others. The diversity of students and faculty at the university affords us the opportunity to get to know individuals who are very different from ourselves. The eclectic mix of students on the Hilltop contrasts sharply with the student body at my former high school, and that diversity is one of the many things that make Georgetown a wonderful place to study and live. The exposure to different ethnicities, cultures, religions and ideologies is not confined to rooms in the Intercultural Center or Healy Hall; the Georgetown campus itself serves as a classroom.

If I have learned anything in my first six months of college, it is this: A person cannot be judged solely on personal appearance. Everyone at the university impressed admissions officers with their character, and not their physical stature. As students, it is our responsibility to discover in our peers what the admissions staff already knows. When reviewing my application, the admissions officers had no way of knowing that the aspiring Georgetown student from a small town in Rhode Island was 4 feet and 11 inches tall. I can only hope that my peers are willing to look past my height and embrace the other qualities that define my individuality.

Bethany Imondi is a freshman in the College.

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