Favorite Memories at GW from Graduating Students
Forging lifelong friendships, demonstrating at the Supreme Court, building a particle accelerator, traveling to Europe, sleeping in protest on the Capitol steps. The Class of 2023 has experienced it all.
The George Washington University Class of 2023 graduates will be recognized at Commencement on the National Mall on Sunday, May 21. Before that, GW Today asked some of the graduates to share their favorite GW memories. Please enjoy these memories from 2023 grads:
Grace Basile, B.S. Marketing
As a student employee at the Business School, I experienced GW both from a student and staff perspective. During my time as a member of the marketing and communications team, I was able to develop my graphic design skills tenfold and was even able to design for GWSB’s 2022 annual report. Working with my supervisor, Mary Catherine Chase, was incredible as she was constantly vouching for me to be able to attend events and gain invaluable experience. On that note, one of my favorite GW memories was when I was able to work the 2022 Commencement at the National Mall and combine these two perspectives: staff and student. I was able to watch my friends graduate and celebrate with them while taking photos for the event. I am incredibly proud and excited to graduate alongside the Class of 2023!
Mariefred Evans, M.P.S. Political Management
Some of my favorite memories from my time in GW’s Graduate School of Political Management were made outside of the classroom. My favorite memories were made unwinding with classmates each week at various coffee shops, happy hour spots or dinners after class. Following the last class of each course, we would invite our professors to join an open-invitation happy hour and enjoy the opportunity to get to know them outside the classroom, learn about their career path and strengthen our connections.
Gabriel Grauvogel, B.S. Physics
If I had to pick a favorite memory at GW, I would probably have to go with my final project for my intermediate lab 1 class. The whole process began on a whim of “I want to build a particle accelerator or do a scattering experiment,” which I thought would be potentially a little too much using what we had lying around the lab. But my research advisor, Axel Schmidt, was fully behind the idea! My lab partner and I managed to design a vacuum-sealed scattering chamber, develop a Monte Carlo simulation for our setup that utilized parallel processing and obtain real data with a gamma ray-emitting source. All of this was done with stuff at GW! The experience played a large part in solidifying experimental physics as something I want to pursue.
Nora Houseman, B.S. Chemistry
One of my favorite parts of GW is its location in the heart of such a powerful city. I love how students here can see and be a part of all the action this city is known for and can engage with and uplift the communities and movements around them. That proximity allowed me to take part in protests following the reversal of Roe v. Wade. I was in D.C. last summer when the ruling was overturned and was able to go at once to the Supreme Court. Being at GW empowered me to use my voice for women’s rights. In a time that felt so dark, being with others who were fighting for the same cause was inspiring and comforting.
Nicole Karem, J.D., GW Law
I have had a lot of big “only-at-GW” moments while attending GW Law, and I could write about any of those as one of my favorite memories. But some of my best memories are the simple ones. In August, there was this beautiful day right before classes started, when my friends and I were on campus helping with orientation. We sat at tables on a patio and watched students on the quad. We talked and laughed and just enjoyed being in the moment for a while. There aren’t a lot of days in the life of a law school student when it’s possible to be truly carefree, but that was one of them. The big, exciting experiences shaped my time at GW, but the friendships I made and the simple moments are what meant the most during my time here.
Steven Mion, M.F.A. Interior Architecture
My main design project one summer was to reimagine a ruined neoclassical theater in Lisbon—already restored as a modern event space—as a boutique hotel. Most of the design studio took place here in D.C., but for the last few weeks of the semester, we actually went to Lisbon to see how the design might work in context. One of the first things we did was tour the site of our theoretical hotel. Walking through the halls of the monumental building, it was amazing to see my ideas come to life in a whole new way. I saw the incredible potential of adaptive design at work, and how I could become part of an ever-evolving industry of breathing new life into old buildings. While the hotel I designed was a hypothetical project, I’m leaving GW ready to turn my ideas into real spaces that have a tangible impact on the people who use them.
Ugo Njeze, M.P.S. Sustainable Urban Planning
I really enjoyed our studio course where we worked with a local planning department in Arlington County, Virginia, to review some of their long-range planning practices. The class was very collaborative and team driven. We all brought our experiences and perspectives to each group session and were proud of the work we put in. There was a real sense of comradery when we were together. I really looked forward to coming to this class each week, and the lessons learned from the course have been significant for my own professional and personal development.
Emmanuella Saforo, J.D. GW Law
I knew that I could gain valuable practical experience by attending GW Law. Over the past three years, I participated in the Field Placement (Externship) program, Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinics and Advocacy Competitions as a full-time student. Each experience was rewarding, I am very grateful to have had amazing faculty advisers and colleagues. Congratulations Class of 2023, continue to Raise High!
Carly Shaffer, B.A. Political Communication
I always dreamed of being at the heart of national politics and during my time at GW, I was able to do exactly that. One of my favorite #OnlyAtGW moments was when I slept on the steps of the Capitol with Reps. Bush, Pressley and Ocasio-Cortez protesting the end of the eviction moratorium. I could not quite believe the fact that I was essentially having a sleepover with some of my biggest inspirations. As a result of sleepless nights on the Capitol steps, the eviction moratorium was extended. It reminded me why I am in this fight, and how much power these institutions can have when they want to serve.
Cristina Silva, B.F.A. Graphic Design, Corcoran School of the Arts and Design
One of my favorite memories so far has been going to the Washington Hilton where they host the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and standing outside with my friends, watching as all these important and famous people walk into such an exclusive event. I got to see and meet people like John Legend and Chrissy Teigen, which was insane.
Ella Stern, B.A. Journalism and Political Science
For a project in my broadcast reporting class, I decided to feature the GW GroW garden. Ten minutes into filming, I dropped the industry-sized camera on the hard concrete.
The garden is across the street from Amsterdam Hall, where a good friend of mine lived. I called her, not knowing how she could help, but knowing she would try. Within moments she was outside, helping me pick up the broken pieces of the camera and walking them with me back to SMPA.
Afterward, I called my mom in tears. She calmed me down as she had so many times throughout my last four years. She told me to look around at the community I had built at GW – she said they were my “found family.”
The camera was OK, and for that I was grateful. But I felt an even greater sense of gratitude for the people who had comforted me. People who were once strangers that lived on the same floor in my residence hall that I now can’t imagine my life without. It is thanks to these people that I have become who I am at GW. Some people say it takes a village, but the truth is, it takes a campus.
Zhangzhu Wan, B.A. Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies
It is hard to pick one favorite memory at GW, as GW has provided me with countless happy memories during my four years here. My favorite memory might be sitting by the wharf in Georgetown, looking at the pink-orange sunset reflected on the Potomac River and the rainbow-light-lit Kennedy Center. I will never forget the feeling of the breeze through my hair, as I sat there with my friend and talked about random things. Every time I walk past the wharf, I am calmed by the glittering river and the clouds in the sky. It is small moments like these with my dear friends that will always make me treasure my time at GW.
