Like most high school graduates, I came into my first year at Georgetown undecided—except in my case, I really had no idea what I wanted to study. I spent my first three semesters taking what some might describe as an eclectic variety of courses, from statistics to sociology to linguistics to biology, praying that one of them would stick.
During the spring semester of my freshman year, I decided on a whim to take a German course, a language I had grown up learning to speak at home with my mom and grandparents. What I thought would be a fun, but one-off elective to tick off my unofficial college bucket list ended up being my favorite class of the semester. It prompted a solo month-long visit to Germany that summer, reconnecting with various family and friends in different parts of the country. Despite crossing an ocean, the trip felt so much like a homecoming, the reigniting of a dormant ember that had always been glowing faintly. Following my return, the idea of majoring in German felt like something I could actually picture for myself and something I would truly enjoy, one of the most important factors in my decision. Three years later, I couldn’t be happier or more proud of that decision.
Majoring in German has been a truly rewarding experience, not because it has landed me some sort of lucrative corporate job post-graduation, but because of how I’ve been able to grow as a writer, reader, and person and how I’ve learned to resist simplistic, prescriptive understandings of the world around me. It has reaffirmed my identity as a lifelong learner, something I will carry forward with me when I leave the Hilltop in all facets of my life, both personal and professional. I am grateful for all the experiences it has provided me and the lifetime connections I have made here. Hoya Saxa.