At 10:13 a.m., Darianny Bautista bursts through the front doors of the Department of Justice offices on M Street in Northeast D.C., where she’s just completed a morning of writing litigation notes as a pathways intern for the DOJ’s Office of Inspector General, specifically its audit division.
She’s pleased to be leaving from the job she’s had since January a little earlier than normal on this Tuesday morning. The junior political science and philosophy double major at the George Washington University still has a full day of classes, but the extra 17 minutes will allow her to get a coffee at Peet’s in District House before her 11:10 a.m. lecture. She boards the Red Line train bound for Shady Grove at the NOMA Gallaudet Station just next to her DOJ office and begins her commute back to campus, where she’ll transfer at Metro Center and eventually to the Foggy Bottom station.
Once back—and after retrieving her caffeine solace—Bautista heads straight to Corcoran Hall, where she enters a soon-to-be-full lecture hall and finds her usual spot in the second seat of the second row, directly in front of the professor’s podium. She seeks to be highly engaged in this class, “Why We Fight About Politics.”
Bautista has two more classes on the day before she leads a panel discussion as part of her leadership on the Student Government Association. She’ll repeat a similar routine the next day—except swap out the panel for a midterm.
It’s a schedule fit for a highly ambitious young person. And it’s a life Bautista could have never imagined growing up. Because too often it was tough for her to imagine life tomorrow.
Some nights, the Newark, N.J., native wouldn’t know where her next meal was coming from. She felt stigmas as a first-generation American and woman of color. She acted out at school and wore what she calls a “problem child” label.
“I didn’t understand why things were so difficult for me,” Bautista said. “But everything I’ve gone through has made me who I am today.
“And I’m proud of that.”
Who she is today is a rock star student at GW, where she is majoring in philosophy and political science while serving in SGA, leading the Transfer Student Association she founded earlier this school year and logging scores of high-level internship hours.
Bautista is a tireless advocate for others and feels so passionate about fighting on behalf of underserved communities because she has lived it herself. She feels as though her own experiences—tough as they may have been—guided her to this place where she is now molding a career of serving others.
“Sometimes when life is falling apart, it might actually be falling into place,” said Bautista, who has that exact quote tattooed on her torso to serve as a constant reminder both of her incredible journey and motivation going forward.
‘Falling into place’
Education wasn’t a top priority in Bautista’s household. Food security and shelter were more pressing concerns, and school—and therefore thinking about her future—was just another responsibility on top of everything else. Bautista also acted as the primary caretaker for her mother who has a disability. Her father, battling health issues, moved back to the Dominican Republic when she was young.
What she discovered, though, was that she was naturally good at school when she had the time. She excelled on New Jersey’s standardized tests and was eventually placed in honors classes. But those took a back seat as she began working at age 14 to help provide for her and her mother.
While she felt neglected much of the time, Bautista is grateful for those who found something in her, such as a New Jersey Board of Education member who encouraged her to try pageantry, where she would eventually discover her voice. So much so that Bautista would eventually go on to win Teen Miss New Jersey and Teen Miss Earth USA Air and launch Reshaping the Future, an education-based campaign advocating for underserved youth.
Bautista realized that education could be a ticket out of poverty and the life she and her family lived. She would go on to enroll at Bergen Community College in New Jersey, believing she was taking the next step toward a new life.
But she’d have to take a few steps back first. As she was navigating how to study—a skill she felt she was never properly taught—she and her mother were facing eviction. Bautista had to represent the two of them in court while trying to keep up with school and work. All signs pointed toward dropping out and continuing the cycle, she said. But she refused to give in, rebuilding her academic foundation seemingly from scratch.
“The one reason I didn’t drop out—actually, there were two reasons—was because people expected something from me, and I knew that if I gave up on my dreams of pursuing higher education, I would be giving up on myself and my family,” Bautista said. “My education is the one thing that can help my family.”
She would go on to immerse herself in everything at Bergen, from student government to representing students in disciplinary hearings on academic integrity. Bautista discovered student advocacy was the cornerstone of who she was, and she sought a place she could transfer to that would allow her to hit the ground running. GW was that place. And the day she was admitted was one of the happiest days of her life. Bautista still has the FaceTime recording on her phone of when she called her mother about her admittance.
“GW didn’t just grant me the opportunity to be at my dream school—it granted me the opportunity to have a home,” Bautista said.
Being Revolutionary
To say she’s hit the ground running may be doing a disservice to the tenacious drive she’s displayed at GW, where she’s taken advantage of financial aid and transfer scholarship opportunities. Since her arrival last spring, Bautista has interned for two members of Congress—Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.)—in addition to her current DOJ internship. She is a GW admissions ambassador and served as an orientation leader. She is constantly tabling and advocating for the Transfer Student Association she founded. Her outgoing and determined personality is marketing gold for an admissions office.
“I’m often in awe of her—seeing everything she has been through and all that she has accomplished,” said Grace Berman, assistant director of transfer and spring admissions. “We’re incredibly grateful to have her. [Darianny] is a welcoming presence for new students.”
Bautista is also a student leader through SGA as the first director of diversity, equity and inclusion, tackling initiatives such as advocating for equitable transfer student scholarships and hosting an “Imposter Syndrome” panel to help students build confidence and leadership. Additionally, she’s taken on working with students one-on-one to help them with cover letters, resumes and professional development.
“Beyond academics, she’s been a huge reason I got more involved on campus,” said first-year criminal justice major Justin Liu, who is now serving as a senator on SGA thanks to Bautista’s encouragement. “She played a big role in pushing me toward that. Since she’s a director, she encouraged me to pursue leadership opportunities that resonated with me. She’s been a major inspiration and a phenomenal mentor.”
GW has taught Bautista that “anything is possible.” Even two years ago, she couldn’t have imagined being a student here—let alone a student leader. Ten years ago? Forget it. And that’s precisely why she’s so excited about what she can achieve in the next 10.
Maybe she’ll be practicing law. Perhaps working in educational policy, maybe as a policy adviser or a legislative director. Heck, maybe she’ll even be an educator herself. Whatever she does, Bautista hopes to create better pathways for underserved populations. Given that she’s living a life she couldn’t have even imagined before, she’ll be ready for whatever dreams come her way.
“GW has shown me that the sky isn’t the limit; it’s just the beginning. I’m excited to see where this journey takes me, and I’ll always be grateful for the opportunities I’ve had here,” Bautista said. “In the year I’ve been here, everything has changed, yet I have never felt more like myself.
“My life has transformed for the better, and I feel incredibly blessed. GW has given me opportunities I never knew someone like me could have.”
