When I first visited Georgetown, I didn’t really like it. Healy was imposing and gloomy; the corridors of ICC were cramped and windowless. It just didn’t click. As I look back on my four years here, it amazes me how my perceptions of this campus have changed. I look around, and I don’t see an imposing and gloomy Healy. I see a stately edifice steeped in history. The hallways of ICC are filled with the jumbled sounds of recitations, language classes and lectures, students from every part of the world coming together to learn from each other.
In my eyes, what separates Georgetown from so many other universities is the people. The quality of the students and the faculty are what make Georgetown special to me. I’ve learned a great deal from an outstanding group of professors. Only in the last year have I truly begun to realize how valuable a resource our teachers are. I thought that office hours were only for asking specific questions about the previous week’s lecture. The best teachers at Georgetown have challenged us in the classroom, yet they are truly interested in our growing as people. They show us that the lessons learned in class are more than isolated facts – they must be applied to the real world, and we must engage that world. They teach us more than just calculus or philosophy – they teach us how to live.
A college education really is more than just what you learn in a classroom. Extracurricular activities give overachievers like us a chance to apply what we’ve learned in class to the real world. I have spent a great deal of my time working at THE HOYA, and I cannot imagine my college career without thinking about the time I spent in Leavey 421. While watching the sunrise through the windows on the fourth floor of Leavey, I have forged some of my closest friendships.
As a photographer for THE HOYA, I’ve had the opportunity to document Georgetown for the past four years. Flipping through some of those photos recently, I’m struck by the many events that have defined our time at Georgetown. From basketball games at CI to the many protests in Red Square, these images constantly remind me of the vibrancy contained within our campus. I will truly miss it.
For a boy from south Alabama, I must say that it has taken a great deal of support from everyone around me to get me where I am today. To my parents and family, thank you for the sacrifices you made that allow me to be here. To my professors, thank you for giving me a greater understanding of the world around me and challenging me to engage that world. To my friends that have supported me along the way, you will never know how much you mean to me.
I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I do know that when I walk across that stage on May 22, I will carry with me the friendships that I have built over the last four years. While I may not be able to find the island nation of Kiribati on a map in five years, I know that I will carry the lessons learned from my friends forever.
As I look back at my four years here and the lessons I have learned, I don’t think any single phrase can adequately contain the ways that Georgetown has changed my life. All I know is that I wouldn’t change a thing.
Charles Nailen is a senior in the School of Foreign Service and is a former Senior Photography Editor and Chairman of THE HOYA’s board of directors.
