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¡Yalla Hoyas! How GU-Q Became Home, One Moment at a Time

May 12, 2026

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By Itiafa Ayeni (GU-Q’29)

By Itiafa Ayeni (GU-Q ’29), an undergraduate student at Georgetown University in Qatar.

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In the weeks before starting at Georgetown, I found myself worrying about something new. This time, it wasn’t the acceptance rate or the cost of tuition; instead, it was the campus culture. I had watched far too many American sitcoms and imagined college life as football games, cheerleaders at Homecoming, and crowded dorm parties.
While Georgetown Qatar might not have those things, what we do have is something far more unique: a customized experience of an American education in Qatar.

One Georgetown Day

One of my most memorable Georgetown events was One Georgetown Day. Imagine a giant field day where students, faculty, staff, alumni, families, and even Jack the Bulldog all somehow end up on the same team, at different times. The sports are completely unregulated. One moment you’re playing football, the next cricket, basketball, tug-of-war, or sprinting in races you definitely did not train for. Nobody really cares who wins (although the students did defeat the staff in football by a very wide margin). The point is simply showing up, laughing too hard, and realizing how tight-knit and connected the Georgetown Qatar community really is. And for Disney enthusiasts, yes, there is face painting on site. By the afternoon, everyone is sitting together for a picnic, exhausted, sunburnt in the Doha heat, and somehow already excited for the semester ahead.

Random-But-Not-So-Random Lunch Hours

At Georgetown Qatar, lunch hours are rarely just lunch hours. Somewhere between 1 and 2 p.m., campus can suddenly turn into a concert, a book club, a policy forum, or all three at once. One afternoon, Saint Levant was visiting my class to discuss language and identity. Another lunch break had me sitting in a women’s book club with author Kamila Shamsie, getting my copy of Home Fire signed. On a different day, I found myself listening to a discussion about the future of the United Nations with Professor Mehran Kamrava and Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the U.N. Secretary-General.

And somehow, in between all of that, there is still time for really good food.

Georgetown has taught me that lunch hours are not just opportunities to feed your body, but also your mind. So, if there’s one piece of advice I would give incoming first-year students, it’s this: use your 1–2 p.m. wisely. You never really know who, or what conversation, might be waiting for you.

First Sundays Grill Out: Cooking Skills and Laughter

Every first Sunday of the month, the campus hosts a grill out where students and faculty gather over food, music, and conversations that somehow drift between politics, academics, and whether the burgers are slightly overcooked. One of my favorite memories was the very first grill-out of 2026, laughing with faculty members outside the classroom and with staff outside the air-conditioned spaces, while trying (and failing) to show off my cooking skills.
One thing nobody tells you before coming to Georgetown Qatar is how quickly faculty members stop feeling intimidating and start feeling genuinely approachable. At GU-Q, some of the best conversations do not happen during office hours or lectures, but around a grill on a Sunday evening.

Where Diplomacy Meets the Dance Floor

If Georgetown Day is chaotic energy, then the International Ball is organized elegance. Once every two years, students come together for a night of performances, dancing, music, and endless energy. It is probably the closest thing Georgetown Qatar has to a prom, blending glamour, celebration, and community in a way unique to the campus. 

One of my favorite things about the event is how it reflects the diversity of the campus. Whether dressed in corset-fitting ball gowns, black ties, or Ankara pants, there is a space for you on the dance floor. For one night, we transform from exhausted students into completely different people, living it up from dusk till dawn. 

Just kidding—you can leave whenever you want to:))

Being Santa’s Elf

Lest you forget, Georgetown is a Jesuit institution at its core, and one of our core values is interfaith understanding. So before you laugh at my striped socks and pointy shoes, keep in mind that being one of Santa’s elves was practically community service.

Every year, the Georgetown community comes together to celebrate the joy, love, and generosity of the holiday season. The Christmas celebration also marks the end of the fall semester, meaning students finally get a chance to relax, eat stuffed American-style turkey, and celebrate with friends, faculty, and families before everyone disappears for winter break.

Watching people from different cultures, religions, and backgrounds come together to celebrate each other’s traditions, and handing out presents to children, reminded me that community is also about learning to live alongside one another with curiosity, respect, and joy.

Georgetown Qatar may not look exactly like the college experience I imagined from television, but it has given me friendships, memories, and moments I could never have scripted. GU-Q offers something far more meaningful: a community that feels uniquely its own. So to every prospective student reading this: welcome to the family. ¡Yalla Hoyas!

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