Megawatt Grins
I don’t know if it was the convenience store champagne, the jet lag, or the allure of drinking in a Parisian phone-booth, but I will never forget that night in May. It was the first evening of a three-week trip with my three best friends, a journey that had been eagerly anticipated ever since we had first hatched the idea whilst sitting in the filth of our Kennedy dorm rooms, surrounded by bottles, bobby-pins, and bras. We couldn’t wait to see the city—I had never even left the country before that year—so we ventured forth, armed with a brown bag of bubbly and some law-breaking chutzpah to the only logical place we giddy tourists could think of: the Eiffel Tower. The four of us took turns swigging from the bottle as we stared up into the belly of the gaudy, metal mammoth, flashing its blue lights. Looking back on the past four years, I can’t think of a time when I have been happier. A picture of us from that night still sits on my desk and always will: the four of us beaming, the great tower only a faint glimmer, a backdrop to our megawatt grins. It may not be the craziest college tale, but who really cares? We’ll always have Paris.
– Clare Malone (SFS ’09)
Rushin’ the Court
Not so long ago, before there were wristbands, when busses carried us to basketball games, and the Verizon Center was the MCI Center, our basketball team wasn’t so great. One cold Saturday in January 2006, that all began to change. This was the Duke game. No one thought we would win. My relentless optimism seemed out of place even to me.
When we scored the first basket, we celebrated having the lead for at least a little bit of the game. But then … we kept scoring. And Duke … didn’t. At halftime, still in disbelief that we might really win, my friends and I took pictures of the scoreboard (42-28). We spent the second half willing time to pass more quickly as Duke narrowed the lead. But everyone knows how the story ends: we held out and toppled the undefeated No. 1 team (87-84). Ecstatic over our victory, we rushed the court, breaking chairs and railings along the way. We are Georgetown.
-Allie Reiner (COL ’09)
Talk to Me, Girl
It would be the crowning achievement of my Georgetown career.
As the General Manager of WGTB, I decided, with my fellow radio peeps, to up our indie cred—and knowledge of our existence—in the Georgetown community by hosting a concert/sweatfest with mash-up master Gregg Gillis, a.k.a Girl Talk. Despite the slight chaos inevitable in packing 300+ people in Bulldog Alley for a two-hour sweat-off that lasted until 3:00 a.m., the night went off largely without incident.
Afterwards, we all gathered for a picture with Gregg.
High off of glory and fame, I jumped up onto his laptop table. He grabbed my hand as I nearly fell and, just as the camera flashed, nearly bit my hand in his insanity. I’ll probably never organize a successful concert again, but I can proudly say that, as a Georgetown student, Girl Talk almost bit my hand.
-Chelsea Paige (SFS ’09)
An X-Rated Surprise
Back in the day—when I called Darnall “home” and my most pressing issue was social acceptance by the elitist and judgmental Voice seniors—I was involved in a retaliatory prank against The Hoya. I remember the night of March 30th was balmy, with a warm wind, and about to rain; April would be the cruelest month. Our contingent of four gathered to prepare our bitter business: six remote controlled doorbells to be stashed, hidden, and implanted in various ceiling tiles, hollowed-out books, and desk underpinnings in their office.
At midnight, I peered over the wall to see a DPS officer sitting at a computer in the corner. We slept until four to look again and saw no one. I was catapulted over the wall to let the rest of the party in—my crucial role. With the doorbells hidden and homepages and screensavers changed to georgetownvoice.com, the DPS officer walked in as we were about to go.
“Just trying to get the paper done on time,” tried the ostensible leader.
“Are you guys goofin’?” he said. “Ah get outta here, you’re just goofin’.” And we left.
For the next two weeks the sound of doorbells rang brightly on the other side of the wall, slowly driving the neighboring staff insane.
Looking back, I should have known that the officer was going to come back. When I had looked at the computer in the corner, it was downloading gigabytes upon gigabytes of hardcore porn.
-Michael Keller (COL ’09)
