Voices

Voices is the Op-Ed and personal essay section of The Georgetown Voice. It features the real narratives of diverse students from nearly every corner on campus, seeking to tell some of the incredibly important and yet oft-unheard stories that affect life in and out of Georgetown.

Voices

Never stop exploring

The thump of the chopper’s rotors is deep, felt more than heard. I look out the window and see swirls of snow flying away from the chopper’s side, down the 11,000 feet of mountain slope hanging beneath us. In the distance, the Grand Tetons reach up toward the sky. Next to me are my brothers, Cameron and Graylan, and my dad; like me, they’re helmeted, goggled and gloved, boots buckled tight against their feet, jackets zipped to the top. We look like the Tenth Mountain Division, but we’re not soldiers. We’re skiers.

By November 8, 2007

Voices

No refuge for former child soldiers

Walking to the market, an eleven-year-old boy is arrested by the National Patriotic Front of Liberia. They ask him to join their army and to kill a captured Armed Forces of Liberia. When he refuses, they threaten his life, forcing him to comply. The boy spends the next few years on the front lines, being threatened at knifepoint to kill other men and children. Such was the norm in Liberia during the late eighties and early nineties.

By November 1, 2007

Voices

Learning how to run like a queen

Thousands lined 17th street waiting for the race to start. Maybe it was the dazzling amount of glitter, sequins and rhinestones in one place, or maybe it was a mixture of our amazement and envy, but the drag queens were statuesque and awe inspiring.

By November 1, 2007

Voices

Ever try to write 50,000 words in 30 days?

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. During NaNo, as insiders call it, participants challenge themselves to pen a 50,000 word novel in the thirty days of November. Winners are novelists. Losers, well—nothing ventured, nothing gained.

By November 1, 2007

Voices

Carrying On

Spaniards have a phrase for people who don’t know how to cook: Ni puede freír un huevo. (he can’t even fry an egg). This is what my host mom, Concha, told me about my lack of skill in the culinary arts. Yet only a few weeks later, she wanted me to cook a family delicacy.

By November 1, 2007

Voices

Burma for cheap

I was walking along a crowded Bangkok plaza when my eyes locked onto the sign: “Burma for Cheap.” Normally, I wouldn’t be lured into Thai places that advertise anything “for cheap,” but Burma seemed to be an interesting place to go during a break from my summer internship in Thailand. After about thirty minutes of strained discourse with the travel agent and lots of hand motions, I decided to go.

By October 25, 2007

Voices

Carrying On

I pulled back for a second, kissed her on the forehead, and sighed. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this,” I began. “But I really like you, and I think that maybe we should wait.” She laughed softly, clearly thinking that I was making a joke. I laughed and said, “No, seriously. I think it’s for the best.”

By October 25, 2007

Voices

This Georgetown Life: Childhood World Series nostalgia

We were reading Shiloh and learning simple scientific principles as the Cleveland Indians had made their way to the World Series in ‘95 for the second time in three years. My teacher, Miss Hist, showed up each day of the series decked out in red and blue Indians apparel, raving about the latest game, the random facts only truly devoted fans know and all the “hunks” on the team.

By the October 25, 2007

Voices

This Asian doesn’t have an accent

I wish I had a Korean accent. Not to get women, because that takes a European accent. Besides, if I really did have a Korean accent, the last thing I would be is attractive. Have you ever seen someone from mainland Korea order a ham-bag-gah at McDonald’s? Not so attractive.

By October 25, 2007

Voices

Abandoning the nuclear family

Imagine a little boy who lives with parents who love him. At dinnertime, one parent is cooking in the kitchen and the other is at the table making a mock airplane out of a fork and some spaghetti. This picture-perfect scenario could be a reality for more children living in foster care if couples who pass the rigorous adoption standards are no longer barred due to their sexual orientation.

By October 18, 2007

Voices

He’s more fly than superfly

When my father walks into a room, he cannot help but radiate badass. Since high school, he has often reminded me how much cooler he is than I am. I usually ignore the comment and roll my eyes, but deep down, I know he’s right.

By October 18, 2007

Voices

It’s all about how you play the political game

Try this pop quiz for a second: two senators are running for president. One encounters major opposition in poll after poll, while for the other you’d be hard-pressed, as far as my experience goes, not to find an admirer. The first inspires as much divisiveness as praise, while the second is almost universally regarded as an American hero. One seems to have spent most of her life planning a way to the presidency; the other has served his country, to the point of torture and near-death in war, since his college days. Who are they?

By October 18, 2007

Voices

Carrying On

My own introduction to Siobhan consisted of a half-hour conversation wherein she pointed toward the kitchen and squawked something I couldn’t understand, and made the angry-eyebrow face. I am unsure if she was she trying to warn me that the grease build up on the gas burner was a fire hazard or was just commenting that the dinner I was cooking looked toxic.

By October 18, 2007

Voices

Action, not reaction

On Tuesday night, I received an e-mail from President John DeGioia, reassuring the Georgetown community that he “will not tolerate homophobia or any other form of discrimination on our campus.” The e-mail marked exactly a month of DeGioia’s silence after a Georgetown student was assaulted for being gay, so I guess you could say it came in the nick of time, just as I was starting to wonder whose side DeGioia was on, anyway.

By October 11, 2007

Voices

An afternoon with the Scientologists

We passed the Church of Scientology, and, luckily, they were offering free personality tests and guided tours. It sounded like a pretty sweet deal. Who doesn’t like free things from an organization that’s well known for being controversial? We approached the ornate wooden doors and entered without knowing it would be another three hours until we would manage to escape.

By October 11, 2007

Voices

Carrying On

The most surreal part of becoming a United States citizen, and there are many, is the citizenship exam. In a few months, I will have the privilege of standing before some bored INS official and answering ten randomly selected questions, needing six correct answers to get that elusive right to vote.

By October 11, 2007

Voices

Burmese monks give peace a chance

For this supreme act of peaceful courage, I submit that the spiritual force behind Burma’s democracy movement should receive the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

By October 4, 2007

Voices

Keep it movin’, Hoyas

Every time I eat at Leo’s, I encounter groups clustered at the top and bottom of the stairs. What causes this? Why can otherwise intelligent and competent Georgetown students not handle something as simple as stairs?

By October 4, 2007

Voices

D.C. schools changing for a better future

There may now be fewer Catholic elementary schools from which to choose from if the Archdiocese goes through with its plan to change eight schools that have until now participated in the D.C. voucher program into charter schools. The proposal has sent up a predictable storm of protest among parents, which is unfortunate, since such protest obscures the brightest prospect for education in D.C. in many years.

By October 4, 2007

Voices

Carrying On

My mother thinks of herself as a modest hippie. After years of being a single parent in a very traditional town, she feels “out of the rat race” and free from the country-club concerns of our neighbors. She lives relatively uninhibitedly, even while affectionately inhibiting my brother’s and my lives. So I was only mildly surprised when I learned that she had decided to pick the drums.

By October 4, 2007