Sydney Carroll (C’27) is a Georgetown Storyteller and a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences from Nashville, Tennessee. When she’s not working on Georgetown Stories, you can find her playing with the Georgetown club field hockey team or writing for The Voice.
I spend a lot of time focused on my classroom learning. And yes, that means my time in the classroom, but it also means readings, discussion boards, reflection papers, podcasts, presentations and tests — not that I feel like I have a lot on my plate or anything.
With so much of our lives spent on academics, it’s easy to forget about the learning that doesn’t come from an academic paper or journal article. However, some of the most valuable lessons at Georgetown have been from outside the classroom. Here are a few.
How to Use Public Transit
Living in Nashville, Tennessee, there’s very little public transit (though hopefully that won’t be the case forever.) When I got to Georgetown, I was thrilled that I would be able to get around the city using all of its many public transportation options — the Metro, buses and bikes.
Georgetown also made my learning curve much easier with the Hoya Transit program, which provides students with funds to use the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
Public transit is the main way I get around in DC, and I have my favorite routes and stops (the 33 route will forever live on in my heart, even though it’s the D80 now). For spots that buses and trains can’t quite get to, I’ve also become a big fan of biking, made possible by Capital Bikeshare. A Capital Bikeshare membership is only $25 annually for Georgetown students and is a great way to rent manual or electric bikes that you can leave at racks all around the city.
I hope to live in another city after graduation, so my crash course in all things public transportation will have definitely been one of my most valuable lessons from my time on the Hilltop!
Everyone Has Something to Teach You
Georgetown is an incredibly diverse community, and I mean that in every way — people of different ethnicities, races, religions, gender identities, socioeconomic backgrounds, sexualities, citizenship statuses, abilities, ages and plenty of other identities are walking around you every day.
Thus, you can learn a lot, so long as you’re willing to. The way I see the world and myself has changed so much since freshman year as a result of my conversations and friendships with people who are different from me. I may not always be able to fully understand their experience, but gaining perspective and sharing your own is crucial to being a good community member and friend.
DC Has Amazing Food From Every Cuisine
Another sad side effect of living in Tennessee is that, outside of hot chicken and barbecue, our food isn’t exactly internationally renowned. DC’s food scene is amazing, though, and has introduced me to new cuisines that are quickly hopping up my list of favorites.
Some of my must-tries in DC include Rumi’s for Persian food, Shanghai Lounge for Chinese and great xiaolongbao, Los Cuates for Mexican, Bob and Edith’s diner for New Jerseyan (if that’s a cuisine), and, of course, Epi’s for chicken tenders that will rival your middle school cafeteria. Whether you’re missing a taste of home or wanting to try something new, there is almost always an option nearby in the District.
Your Learning Inside the Classroom Does Actually Matter
Every student, no matter how diligent they claim to be, has had a moment sitting in a lecture wondering, does any of this really matter? Sometimes, the answer is legitimately no — I took calculus my freshman year, and, if my life goes the way I hope it does, I will never do a derivative again.
But a lot of what I’ve learned in the classroom has applied to my experience outside it in really meaningful ways. For example, this past summer in my reporting internship, I used my knowledge of social safety net programs designed to support low-income families that I gained in my Women, Poverty, and Reproduction class to report on nonprofit organizations filling in the gaps that those services couldn’t meet.
My freshman year class, Women in the Hebrew Bible, gave me knowledge of women’s stories in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament that I’ve been able to use to combat harmful tropes about women in religion during tense conversations. Every day I find myself exercising the muscles I’ve developed in the classroom, which makes the hundreds of pages of reading (sometimes per night) all worth it.
Taking Care of Yourself is Key
During my time in college, I was diagnosed with a chronic illness, which has drastically changed the way I approach everyday life. I’m someone who tends to bring 120% of my energy to anything I do (which my professors and friends always appreciate and never find exhausting).
However, balancing classes, extracurriculars, work and having some form of a personal life became more exhausting to me than the average student, and I’ve spent the last few years learning how to be my best for those around me while also not burning the candle at both ends. Point blank: you aren’t of any use to anyone if you’re falling asleep on the job or so mentally exhausted that you’re speaking gibberish. I’m still in the learning stages of my self-care journey, but what I have taken away is that to be your best self, you have to give yourself the tools and the grace to get there, even if it’s a little bit different from other people.
Enjoy the Little Things
College can be overwhelming, and it often feels like a matter of surviving through the week than truly embracing any joie de vivre. While we can’t stop the tide of academics and extracurriculars (though perhaps some more well-timed snow can), joy can be found in little moments every single day.
I obviously have fun in the classroom and in more intentional moments with my friends out on an adventure or at a party, but there are also things I love that have become integral and seemingly routine parts of my daily life.
A new addition would be the ice cream cones at Leo’s — I refuse to eat the soft serve without them, and my friends can attest that even months in, I get the same joy from filling my very own cone and proudly bringing it back to the table. I also love walking through campus and seeing people I know. My friends who go to massive universities can sometimes go a full day without running into someone; I can’t go a minute.
While this is less than ideal when you are sweaty on a Yates treadmill or doing laundry in your pajamas at 2 a.m., for the most part, it makes me feel part of a larger community where I feel like I know everyone, even if that’s logically impossible. I also still feel like an academic way back in an old-timey-era every single time I take a class in Healy, and I feel like I won the lottery every time I secure a study room in the HFSC. These things are small, but they bring me joy every day and have taught me to find fulfillment in the spectacular and the ordinary.
