Dan Grover, a junior majoring in English, is a Hatchet columnist.
Tons of GW students choose to go abroad every semester, and many have the time of their lives. With info sessions for the Focus on Fall Abroad Community coming up, and talk of next year’s travels flowing like GW Deli coffee, it’s time to think not of what will happen once everyone goes abroad, but rather what comes after.
I loved my experience abroad last semester, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. When people ask me if it’s weird being back, I have to say no – but it is a little annoying.
It’s annoying that I live “far away.”
Of course, I don’t actually mean that. But unfortunately, 1959 E Street, now the home of FOFAC, has a reputation among GW students for being the most distant residence hall. It isn’t necessarily true. E Street is certainly no farther from the center of campus than Mitchell Hall, or – in the reverse direction – City Hall, but the reputation sticks.
Which led me wonder: If the goal of FOFAC is to reintegrate students into the GW lifestyle post-study abroad, why are they housed at such a removed distance?
University spokesman Kurtis Hiatt told me the shift in housing was a result of the closing of the three residence halls that are being built into District House. Amsterdam Hall, as a result, has had to house more sophomores, and since E Street is only open to juniors and seniors, it makes sense to house FOFAC there – a community made up almost entirely of upperclassmen.
To which I said aloud, “Oh, duh.”
The logic behind the move makes a ton of sense, and I applaud the University’s aplomb at handling the housing crunch as it has. And I should be fair to FOFAC: The program isn’t mandatory, and I could have chosen to live in any on-campus residence hall – or even off campus, if I so desired.
I don’t hate living in E Street. I enjoy discussing experiences abroad with other FOFAC students, and I’ll happily keep my rooftop balcony even if I sometimes have to convince my friends that I don’t, in fact, live in Southwest D.C. Plus, E Street has some wonderful amenities (holla, free laundry).
But being removed from everyone I knew before I went abroad has been tough, and not having an available answer to the question, “Why is FOFAC in E Street, of all places?” has been just as frustrating.
Turns out, all I had to do was ask.
Now that we know, I implore my fellow students to stop whining. Sometimes University decisions make perfect sense. And do trek down to E Street to visit your formerly abroad friends every once in a while.
Potential headaches are nipped in the bud if we communicate with one another for the good of constructing what will be a beautiful new hall in the center of campus – and besides, for the truly lazy, 4-RIDE is available.
