Gaby Perla

SFS ’14
Age: 22
Hometown: Rockville, Md.
Major: International Politics

How does Georgetown compare to your environment at home?
My hometown is extremely diverse, but my high school wasn’t particularly diverse. It was actually 88 percent Jewish, and I clearly didn’t fit into that demographic, so I had an identity crisis around 13 during bar and bat mitzvah season when I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t having one too. What’s been really incredible about Georgetown is it does have this really unique quality of diversity and not just diversity in the traditional sense, but geographic diversity and international diversity as well — something that’s pretty different. That said, I’m 30 minutes away from home, so it’s incredible how different those worlds can be.

At Georgetown, where or with whom do you feel most comfortable?
D-5. I lived in Darnall my freshman year on the fifth floor, and it’s been by and large the best community I’ve had here on campus. I still live with people that I lived with on my freshman floor. Through a lot of different organizations I was involved in around campus, I really found a lot of different social hubs of a lot of different, unique people, but I would call D-5 home through and through.

What are you doing after Georgetown?
It’s a loaded question. Right now I don’t really have it all figured out, but I think that we might be the silent majority right now. So it’s a little scary to try to figure out what it is I want to do. Right now I’m looking at a lot of different think tanks and development organizations to work with. I’m interviewing so that’s been fun. Ideally, I’d really like to stay in D.C. for two years, but then after that I’m really open to the idea of going abroad for a couple years.

Does that question annoy you?
It definitely gets redundant, but I don’t think it annoys me because I think it comes from a well-intentioned place of genuine curiosity of what’s going on in my life.

What has been the most rewarding experience you’ve had at Georgetown?
I kind of applied to ASB on a whim, and it was by far one of the most transformative experiences maybe of my four years, but definitely of my senior year. I got to interact with an incredible group of people that is so engaged and so caring and so kind. Not to say that isn’t Georgetown as a whole, but it’s really inspiring to be surrounded by that love and acceptance for a week. Madeleine Albright’s class is right up there as well. Our simulation consumed my life for about three weeks, but at the end of it, it was definitely rewarding. That pat on the back I got was clutch.

Who is a TV character you see yourself in?
I think that’s a tossup between George Michael Bluth from “Arrested Development” and Donna Meagle from “Parks and Rec.” I think I definitely straddle the spectrum between those two. George Michael seems to be able to take a lot of things in stride, which is something I think you have to learn very quickly at Georgetown, but Donna Meagle is an empowered woman I really look up to. She’s really all about treating herself, and I think the idea of self-care she promotes is actually really important and something we lose sight of at times. Maybe Donna’s someone I aspire to be.

Interview by Emma Hinchliffe