Derek Buyan

SFS ’14
Age: 22
Hometown: Milwaukee, Wis.
Major: CULP

Do you feel obliged to be busy at Georgetown?
Of course. People say practice makes perfect, but I like to say practice makes permanent. Everyone here appears to be always busy. So much practice leads to everyone being permanently busy. 

What do you do on campus?
Everything. I never leave. I work at the BMW Center for German and European Studies, step it on out with the GU Step Team, I sing with the Concert Choir and the 7:30 Mass choir. I sit on the front lawn when it’s sunny with cool people.

What do you find most frustrating about Georgetown?
There seems to be a lurking pressure to be disingenuous. I think the culture at Georgetown doesn’t ask people to be the best they can be; it incentivizes them into being less than who they are than in environments that are less fast paced, more supportive and less judgmental. 

What are your thoughts on the party culture? 
I think it’s kind of pathetic, because we’re not a state school and we can never be a state school. There’s probably a healthier way to party harder than people do at Georgetown, the same way there is to study. Study hard, party harder…

What do you like most about Georgetown? 
Since first semester freshman year I found myself returning home and presented with this question. The answer has to be the people. But my peers at Georgetown are my favorite thing and my least favorite thing. Honestly my relationship with this university is one of intense love/hate and that is because the relationships I experience here are just as love/hate. Hoyas are the most motivated, intensely inspirational, intelligent and earnest group of slightly misguided people. At the same time, there is just something about the average Joe Hoya that seems to miss the mark and I can only hope that after we leave we will find whatever that is and incorporate it into who we are.

Will you donate to Georgetown and why?
Absolutely. Because I cannot imagine not having gone to Georgetown and I’ll do whatever I can to keep it going and to provide that opportunity for someone else. 

What are your plans after Georgetown? 
I’m going to teach English in Germany next year with the Fulbright. After that I hope to pursue grad school. 

What’s your favorite class you’ve taken at Georgetown? 
“Dante and the Christian Imagination” with Frank Ambrosio. It honestly made me a much better person. It taught me more about relationships, and offered me a comprehensive set of tools for understanding how I want to structure my personal life. “Divine Comedy” is something that, once you’ve read, you can’t unread it. Once you’ve understood, you can’t un-understand it, and once you’ve realized its implications for yourself and your life, you will continue be grateful for it. 

Where are you from? Compare and contrast it to Georgetown. Where are you more comfortable?
Milwaukee. The people here have a completely different orientation: the way that they structure their lives and view the world is outwardly oriented – to the world, to other cities, to travel – and that was entirely new to me. 

You’re a senior. Anything you regret about your time at Georgetown?
Not transferring to the College and majoring in philosophy and theology. I’ve really enjoyed my time in the SFS and certainly think that I will benefit from my degree, but at this point I’m certainly feeling that the interdisciplinary nature of my degree does not afford any particular discipline, and I think I missed out on that. 

Interview by Braden McDonald