Robin Go

SFS ’16
Age: 20
Hometown: Quezon City, Philippines
Major: STIA
Certificate: Global Health

What do you like most about Georgetown?
That’s a hard one. I like the diversity at Georgetown. It’s known to be a pretty preppy college; I feel that’s the reputation Georgetown has, but my personal experience has been I’ve gotten to meet so many people from all over the world, and even better yet I’ve become friends with a lot of them. Also, I like Georgetown’s position — geographical position in Washington, D.C. It’s always been one of the things they’ve emphasized in their pamphlets, but, I would vouch for that, it’s a nice perk.

What’s your favorite class that you’ve taken at Georgetown?
Comparative Political Systems. It was hard, terribly hard. It’s a class that’s meant to be for sophomores and juniors, but I took it my freshmen fall. It’s the lowest grade that I’ve gotten in my Georgetown academic career, but it’s still my favorite class because one: Fr. Carnes is a fantastic teacher. He’s not only knowledgeable, but he’s soulful about the topic. I remember on the last day of class he brought a lot of people — including himself — to tears during his final spiel, and it pretty much set up what I was going to learn in my subsequent classes. It kind of fomented my interested toward institutions specifically, and how I’ve realized after taking STIA in the global arena courses and international relations that’s my academic niche interest.

What do you find most frustrating about Georgetown?
Too many salmon shorts.

What do you hope Georgetown will help you accomplish?
Eventually, I hope getting a job, and helping me be financially secure hopefully. I feel like that’s the promise we were given.

Do you feel obligated to be busy at Georgetown?
Yes.

How so? Is it a social pressure? Is it very common?
Some people think it’s an external pressure, but for me I think it’s an internal one. There’s just so many things that are interesting that Georgetown offers. I mean not even school, what the students can offer. For example, my roommate’s just kick-starting his own newspaper from out of the blue, and it’s fantastic. So for me I feel like there’s an obligation to be involved. There’s a difference between drowning yourself in work that you forget to eat, which I’ve done several times, but for me there’s such a wide array of activities that if I find myself only doing school work, I feel like I wouldn’t be taking advantage of everything Georgetown has to offer.

Which television character do you see the most of yourself in and why?
Jon Snow from “Game of the Thrones.” I’m a second-born son and constantly ignored. I continue to know nothing.

Do you feel like coming to Georgetown has altered what you want to do in the future or has amplified your desire to do what you originally envisioned before coming?
I think amplified. Coming in I thought I just wanted to be a doctor, but Georgetown has made me realize that’s a boring pursuit. Talking to various speakers that come to Georgetown and to my peers, I feel like I can be a physician that can do so much more than just being a doctor. For example, I can be a policy advocate for better health care reform. Most people think you would have to be a lawyer for that, but personally I feel I have to be a doctor first to dive deep into the trenches and see what’s up before I try to suggest anything. 

Do you have a mantra or phrase you choose to live by?
Fail better. Because failure is inevitable, and you can only fail better, and I try to remind myself of that, so that I don’t constantly drown myself in short-term failures.

What is your greatest fear?
Being stuck in a room full of birds … I just don’t fancy birds.

Interview by Robert DePaolo