Luke Hedrick

COL ’16
Age: 20
Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.
Major: Biology

Do you feel obliged to be busy at Georgetown?
I definitely think there is a culture at Georgetown of busyness. I think that people mostly compete to see who can be involved in more and who can have more work to do. On some level, if you have a break where you don’t have a lot of work in your classes or you’re not that busy for whatever reason, you get judged by that. I’m one of the least involved people on campus. I work for GERMS and I’m in SigEp. At most other schools, that would be a lot, but if you’re not in three or four or more clubs at Georgetown, you’re not considered actively involved. 

Tell me more about what you do on campus.
I work for GERMS as an assistant/EMT. I do things like take vitals, help people. More of leading and decision-making is something I would like to do by the time I graduate. A lot of people actively choose not to because it’s such a time commitment and you need the experience. I don’t want to say it’s luck, but you can’t control how many calls you get. If no one gets sick during all your shifts in a week, then you’re not getting experience.

What do you find most frustrating about Georgetown? 
I think it’s really that culture of how busy you are. I feel like people get so caught up and ride the wave of whatever it is they’re doing, whether it’s schoolwork or clubs. I feel like it stops people from being as spontaneous as they could be, from relaxing and enjoying the moment. These are only four years and they’re supposed to be four of the better years of your life. I feel like I just got here two weeks ago and I’m basically halfway done. If collectively we were all a little less concerned with being so busy, we might be able to appreciate where we are at or more.

What do you like most about Georgetown? 
Probably one of my favorite things is the people here. At least as far as the pre-med curriculum is concerned, there isn’t this sense of competition with your classmates. People are genuinely willing to collaborate and help you understand the material. In a class like [organic chemistry] at other schools, you really are competing, though.

Will you donate to Georgetown and why?
No. I don’t really see why I would, in that I’ve already given $60,000 a year. If I did give money back, it would either be earmarked for GERMS or SigEp, like if GERMS needed a new ambulance or something.

Where are you from? Compare and contrast it to Georgetown. Where are you more comfortable?
I’m from Charlotte, N.C. They’re just radically different. Charlotte is urban sprawl. It’s not really a planned city. There isn’t really public transportation. Because of that, there are little pockets of people and you don’t run into anybody. That’s not true here; you can walk across the quad and see 12 people you know. The pace of life is different too. Back home, people are friendlier.

Do you think that cura personalis is embodied by people here? Or is there an element of BS?
A little of both. I think there’s a lot of lip service to it, at least from an administrative level. I think the student body very much embodies that. I don’t think it’s because of anything in particular that the administration does on a top-down level. I do see it in faculty. I think the faculty care. With a few exceptions, I got the sense that almost every professor I’ve had here genuinely cared about their students.

What’s your favorite class you’ve taken at Georgetown? 
The gateway neurobiology class I’m in right now or the Ignatius Seminar I took freshman fall. It was called “Shifting Selves” with Marshall Morris in Russian department. It was a literary survey course where you read a huge variety of works that all had something to do with people changing, including “Frankenstein” and “Dracula.” A lot of it got back to the idea of whether people can change and what form that takes. The professor was great — she was upfront about the fact that it doesn’t count toward gen ed requirements, so she wasn’t going to kill us with work. There was an emphasis on discussion and getting together and enjoy the literature. I can’t really say enough. 

Can you comment on the fraternity culture at Georgetown? How most frats aren’t recognized? Is there an element of exclusivity?  
I’m under the impression that the reason that we’re not recognized by the university is because we’re not co-ed. I think not being recognized has its upsides and downsides. You don’t necessarily have someone looking over your shoulder all the time, so you have more leeway to do things. Because Greek life isn’t such a huge part of Georgetown, although it’s growing, things aren’t necessarily as exclusive as they can be at other schools. There’s a lot of goodwill between Greeks and non-Greeks, whereas at other campuses there’s such a large divide. Our chapter in particular is cognizant of the kind of stereotypes with students being on the fraternity and try to work against them. SigEp’s Relay for Life team has raised over $16,000, as much as the next three groups put together. We’re a group of 91 guys. If you put that many people together, especially when they’re students at Georgetown, you can do some positive things. 

What would you change about yourself? What’s the biggest change you’ve consciously made in your life and why?
That’s tough. To be completely honest, I don’t think I ever had one of those watershed moments where I’ve felt the need to really drastically change something about myself. Where I am and who I am is a natural progression of my life and my experiences.

Interview by Braden McDonald