Home / Admissions / Admissions Blog

• Desert Hoya

What Hoya Welcome Week Taught Me About Belonging

August 11, 2026

·

By Aisha Al-Emadi (GU-Q'28)

Aisha Al-Emadi is a Class of 2028 International Politics major from Qatar

---

My Hoya Welcome Week (HWW) was a very interesting week, not necessarily because of the activities planned but because of how I viewed myself during that time. To give a little background about myself, during high school I was one of the most outgoing people I knew and I took great pride in that but when we started orientation week at GU-Q I felt like a complete stranger to myself, not just to those around me. Orientation week felt like it would determine everything: who I was, who I would become friends with, and how I would fit into Georgetown, the place I had dreamed of being part of for four years. What no one tells you, though, is that this expectation is unrealistic for Hoya Welcome Week.

The week is jam packed with activities of various types and, honestly it’s a necessary but fun week. However, HWW is very unlike normal days at GU-Q, which is why I would tell our incoming first years not to form their opinion of Georgetown or the people around them based on HWW. We all start feeling extremely anxious and, throughout the week some people start leaving their shells, while others don’t. For me, I felt like I needed someone to claw me out of my shell because I had no clue how to do that myself. The part I’m really grateful for is on the last day of orientation week, I went up to my Orientation Advisors and told them, with tears in my eyes, how I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to make friends. My advisors, Fajr and Nafisa offered some advice that truly stayed with me during the weeks that followed. They reminded me that everyone’s university experience occurs differently and reassured me that I would eventually find my people. 

Reading this, you might think that what they said was very obvious but their words really hit home. During the summer before my first year of university, I went through a lot emotionally, and somewhere along the way I forgot myself and developed this quiet belief that I was undeserving of friendship, that I was a bad person or I simply did not belong. When I didn’t click with anyone as soon as orientation week started, I blamed myself.

However, for any incoming first year students, my advice to you is to take HWW as an experience, not as a mission. Friendships, belonging, memories and comfort don’t always come with the start of your journey, in fact, they usually develop while your story at GU-Q unfolds.

Aisha Al-Emadi (GU-Q ‘28)

Looking back at my mindset when I became an Orientation Advisor as well, I realize how much my HWW experience shaped the way I approached my team of students. I understood what it felt like to stand in the atrium that was filled with people from every corner of the world and still feel like you don’t belong. I understood the urge to convince yourself that everyone had found their place while you were still searching for yours. Even with all that understanding and awareness, I was still struck by the words that one of my group members said to me during that week. When I asked how they were feeling, this student explained feeling overwhelmed by everything that was happening and unfamiliar with the environment. At that moment, I felt like my 17 year-old self had finally found the explanation for how I was feeling during orientation week. 

That conversation felt like a wake up call for my younger self, telling her that sometimes feeling lonely is not because something is wrong with us but it’s simply due to the fact that we are all individuals coming from different paths of life, carrying with us emotions and experiences that are unseen in a space we are trying to adjust to. HWW is not meant to determine the upcoming four years, rather, it is the beginning of the process of discovery that you are about to embark on. Whether you are reading this as an incoming first year student or a student exploring the possibility of joining our community, be patient with yourself. Take the advice of others that have come before you and enjoy the opportunity to explore and discover. You will find your people.

The posts and comments on this blog are the views and opinions of the author(s). Posts and comments are the sole responsibility of the authors. They do not represent the views, opinions or policies of the University.