Title: Your Bucket List for Your First Week at Georgetown

Sydney Carroll (C’27) is a Georgetown Storyteller and a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences from Nashville, Tennessee. When she’s not working on Georgetown Stories, you can find her talking about American studies or writing for The Voice.

Your first week at Georgetown can be so overwhelming — there’s dorm decorating, New Student Orientation activities, adjusting to campus and also trying to see all of Georgetown and DC. It can also be tough to try to fit in everything you want to do. 

My first weeks at Georgetown were filled with so much excitement but also so, so much confusion. I don’t think I ate at Epi’s for weeks — I didn’t even know where it was! I also wanted to squeeze the absolute most out of DC and Georgetown as I could. The good news is, you also have four years here. So, here’s my ultimate bucket list for your first week on campus. What if you don’t get it all done? You can try any of these any other of your 195 weeks here!

1. Try Every Dining Spot on Campus

Leo’s is likely closest to your dorm (except for you, Darnall!) and there may be a heavy inclination to get all your meals there. However, there are other spots on campus that you can check out with your meal swipes and exchanges. My suggestions would include the meatball sub at Royal Jacket, chicken tenders at Epi’s, a tuna avocado roll at Sushi Do or a salad at Crop Chop. You can also use your Flex Dollars (which will last you a month if you’re lucky) at Chick-fil-A, Starbucks or any Corp location.

2. Get Lots of Merch at CAB Fair

This one is time-sensitive. The Council of Advisory Boards (CAB) hosts CAB Fair every year, a massive club fair where you can learn about every single organization on campus. This year, it takes place on Aug. 29 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Learning about clubs is cool, but you can also walk away with T-shirts, stickers, mugs and lots of food. My biggest piece of advice? Bring a tote — you’ll want room to store your stash.

3. Walk to the Monuments

It’s a rite of passage to have one late-night trek to the monuments as a freshman. You can also do it during the day. There’s a great walking/biking trail right along the Potomac that you can access just past the AMC near the Georgetown Waterfront that will take you right there. 

4. Cheer on the Hoyas

During your first week at Georgetown, several of Georgetown’s teams will be playing at home! Check out men’s soccer versus Rutgers at Shaw Field on Aug. 23, football versus Lafayette College on Cooper Field on Aug. 27, or women’s soccer versus Virginia Tech on Aug. 30 at Shaw Field. Tickets for all are free when you show your GOCard. Georgetown Athletics’ full schedule can be found here, and you can add it to your Google Calendar if you want.

5. Run up the Exorcist Steps

Just next to Car Barn are the Exorcist Steps, a super steep set of stairs used in the final scene of “The Exorcist” (much of which was filmed on campus!). Even after three years, I usually have to take a breather halfway through walking up. However, it’s always fun to try to run up — just make sure to hold onto the railing!

6. Watch a Hoya Onscreen

Beyond “The Exorcist,” there are plenty of not-so-scary movies and TV shows that feature campus or characters that are Hoyas. Some of my personal favorites include “Red, White, and Royal Blue” (first son Alex goes to Georgetown Law), “Wedding Crashers” (parts were filmed by the C&O Canal), “Scandal” (Olivia Pope is a Hoya) or the “Today Show,” anchored by Hoya Savannah Guthrie (L’02).

7. Check out the Volta Park Pool

If you’re longing to live out the last days of summer, you can go to the Volta Park pool in the neighborhood for free through Sept. 7! Simply show your student ID at the front and enjoy swimming with your friends until 8 p.m. on weekdays and 6 p.m. on the weekends — they’re also closed on Mondays.

8. Take public transportation

There’s no better way to get familiar with DC’s public transportation system than to just dive in — it’s also a great way to see the city. You can hop on bus routes in Georgetown to go all the way up to Bethesda or down to the White House (D96), or take the D80 over to Union Station or up to Friendship Heights. You can also use Georgetown University Transportation System (GUTS) buses to get to the Dupont Circle or Rosslyn Metro stations, which connect you to the Red, Silver, Orange and Blue lines.