Katie Peters

Community Director, East Campus
Age: 25
Hometown: Torrance, Calif.
Time at Georgetown: 8 months

Why did you decide to come to Georgetown?
When I was applying for jobs, I was looking for an institution that would be a good fit for me, personally, and for my values. I was looking for a place where I could still have conversations about faith, but in a more liberal context than I could at my former institution. So part of what really drew me to Georgetown was the way that the Jesuit values were enacted at the university. Jesuit education in general really interested me, and Georgetown in particular not only had the high Jesuit emphasis, but it also had high student involvement, and from what I could tell students seemed to really care about doing things that would make a difference in the world and that was the kind of student population that I wanted to work with.

How has your experience at Georgetown differed from what you expected?
I don’t think I really understood before I came here how job-focused a lot of things are here. My undergraduate experience was not like that at all. It was very much about doing things you enjoyed and doing things that would make a difference for people, and people were not as worried about what job it was you got after school, as long as you were enjoying what you were doing. So I wasn’t quite prepared for the amount of things that students participate in as well as how focused it all is on getting ahead, before graduation and for what that job is going to be. Also, as a humanities major, I’m kind of always in favor of “but the class is just fun” experience — you learn to think, and maybe you just appreciate art and it enriches your life, but it isn’t necessarily going to get me the better job or the higher salary.

What’s the greatest challenge as a community director?
I would say my greatest challenge is being present, mentally, in situations that I don’t enjoy. There’s a lot of things about my job that I really love and wouldn’t trade for the world, but there’s a lot of times when I’m on call or I’m dealing with conflict or crisis situations, where it’s hard to be present in the moment and still appreciate what you have and what you’re doing in the midst of that. So it’s that constant reminder to myself that, “You really do like this. The good really does outweigh the bad 90 percent of the time. Don’t let the 10 percent of the things that really annoy you get in the way of enjoying what you really love to do.”

Which television or film character do you most relate to and why?
I have been told that if I were a “Lord of the Rings” character, I would be Galadriel, I think just because of how I react to situations. I’m generally a calm presence. And I’ve always wanted to be an elf.

What is the hardest thing you’ve ever done?
Move 3,000 miles from my friends and family to come work here. When I got the job, I accepted on the phone and moved five days later, 3,000 miles away.

What is one thing that you would change about yourself if you could?
I can be a little too prideful when it comes to my independence. I have a hard time in my personal life asking people for help, and I know I’d change that because it’s always something where, when I finally do ask someone for help, it’s always a positive experience, and it’s always something I wish I’d done earlier. I am working on it, but I wish I could change that feeling that I have to do it by myself.

Compare and contrast Torrance with Georgetown.
There are no prepsters to be seen in Torrance. The part of Torrance where I grew up is about 1.5 to 2 miles from the beach, so there’s a lot of flip flops, a lot of board shorts — it’s very laid back, very southern California suburbia. Georgetown is very driven, very fast paced, and the pace of life here is just one of the things that surprised me the most. People don’t have as much room for stuff — I would walk down to the beach on occasion just because I wanted to and just take a couple hours out of my day to do that, to just kind of wander along the sand. Here, I feel like everyone’s always going somewhere and doing something. Everyone kind of has that aspect of business and purpose. Even if they’re just going out for drinks, you still kind of get that feeling from them.

What is most frustrating about Georgetown?
The acronyms. I was so confused my first two weeks of getting here because everyone would say acronyms everywhere in every conversation, and I had no idea what anything was for the longest time. I still don’t know where the R in GERMS comes from, and it took me a while to figure out what GUSA is. I think I mostly mastered it but it was like learning an entirely new language.

What do you do for fun?
Lots and lots of Pinterest. Netflix, reading, I do a lot of crafts, I paint and draw, I go to church every week to make sure I go off campus. I also really like going to museums in the city and going out for a cup of coffee and a book by myself.

What is it like living in the dorm alongside the students?
I don’t think most students realize that I live on campus and that I live here. My apartment is kind of a little hidden away; I don’t think even all of my immediate neighbors know I’m there. So, for the most part, it’s like I’m just any other student on campus that just kind of keeps to myself. It does get loud. I tend to go to bed pretty early, so that kind of reminds me that I am no longer a college student and I am definitely getting older, but for the most part, it’s a very quiet life, because nobody except for my RAs know that I’m there.

Interview by Penny Hung