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Freshmen Diaries: Things a Georgetown Freshman Should Know

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Georgetown chapter.

Things a Georgetown Freshman Should Know,
Or at least, as far as I’m concerned, by now.

Sure, we’re still freshmen, but here are a few things that, at this point, we should definitely know, and a few others that are just plain helpful. Do you know…

(1) How to see how many meals you have left when you swipe in to Leo’s? I didn’t until a few days ago…apparently the rest of the Georgetown population did. When you’re next swiped in to Leo’s, look on the small screen in front of the computer, where it will say your last name and then a number. This number reflects how many meals you have left for the week, not including the meal you just swiped in for. So midweek, begin tallying in your head how many you’re probably going to use and see if you have extras (the meal plan resets Friday night at midnight). Have a few to spare? Go to Grab & Go and stock up on some juices, chips, and some extra sandwiches.

(2) How to get stuff done? Go to Midnight Mug, order up your choice of caffeine, and then find a cubicle by following the bookcases immediately to the left of Midnight. The cubicles in that area are great for isolating yourself and maybe actually getting something accomplished. Also, begin noticing (and admitting to yourself) where you can and cannot concentrate. Some people can get things done in their rooms; others can’t be anywhere but in Lau. So when you know you need to work, be honest with yourself and go somewhere that’ll work to your advantage. It’ll save you a headache later!

(3) How to do laundry? If you’ve made it this long without doing laundry, I applaud you, because that must have taken some creative reuse of clothing to go six weeks without washing anything. But if you haven’t done laundry and are now too scared to go down to the laundry room and look like a wide-eyed freshmen, go ahead and admit to your roommate or another friend that you’re terrified, and let them help you out down in the laundry room. They’ll probably be happy to make you wash those clothes you’ve been wearing for six weeks.

(4) How to open your mailbox? Oh wait. I still can’t do that.

(5) How to make a few Leo’s concoctions? Sure, Leo’s has variety, but a colligiette still needs to switch things up! Revolutionize your pasta by adding veggies and meat from other stations, or create a different dessert by adding ice cream or froyo between two cookies and making an ice cream sandwich.

(6) How to get to Safeway? Have you been grocery shopping at CVS for the past six weeks? If you want to stock up on some fruit or other groceries, take a trip to Safeway if you haven’t already. It’s a nice walk, for all that’s worth. You can either take O Street (or your street of choice from the front gate) to Wisconsin, turn left, and follow until you arrive, or go out the other exit at Reservoir Road, turn right, and follow it until you hit Wisconsin, and turn left until you hit Safeway. Just don’t get too many groceries that walking back will be impossible!

What else should all freshmen know by now? Leave us your tip in the comments below!
 

Catherine Murphy is a junior at Georgetown University.  She is majoring in Marketing in Georgetown's McDonough School of Business.  She is also planning on completing minors in English and Sociology.