Why I Chose the UHP, and Why I’d Do It Over, and Over, and Over Again

This is my fourth admissions season on the University side of the table, and each year, I receive the question “Why the UHP?” a hundred times.
 
And yet, each year, I have a difficult time verbalizing all that it is great, good, challenging, and defining about the University Honors Program Experience. I have token stories about my professors, certain papers, and can even show funny pictures from the Student Faculty Dinner. But in forming my answers to this vast query, I needed structure. And I have now found two themes that allow me to structure that speech: Challenge and Community (for alliteration’s sake).
 
I chose Challenge when I came to the UHP. I thought I was smart and savvy already, but I needed to be continuously pushed. I am not a student to get lost in a 150 person lecture, or to abide by what the professor says simply because they said it. My professors challenge me, and I like to challenge them back. The UHP Curriculum is not about extra classes; it is about having an outlet for all of these questions that do not fit neatly into the syllabus of an International Affairs policy class. It is about reading beautiful texts that echo in my consciousness. It is about finding kindred souls in my classmates who are of all majors, but who all can challenge me in a second over a common text we have come to love or hate.
 
Those kindred souls make my community. GW has 10,000 undergraduate students, and the UHP is just 5% of that. Numbers sound important, but what feels important is when I walk into a building and I am welcomed by name, or even by a hug. The Townhouse has become my home base; it is where I work, where I caffeinate, where I study, and where I come to feel a sense of belonging. What feels important is going to Catherine or Mary and asking them to talk me through a decision, or arguing with a fellow student over Nietzsche on our way to a gallery exhibit, when a grade was not hanging in the balance.
 
Challenge and Community are not two exclusive entities. They feed off one another. My incredible relationship with the UHP staff builds my professional toolbox, as I take leadership roles and – honestly – sometimes make mistakes. I do not seek a passive community, but a community of challenging, sharp, engaged, loving people. People who self-motivate, and glean energy from discussions that make them re-think.
 
Coming out of the UHP, and GW at large, I have had opportunities for research, networking, internships, professional development, and furthermore, I have learned how to take criticism. The small class sizes, close professorial relationships, and opportunities for leadership have formed me into the ready-set-go young professional and academic that I am. I meet high expectations with gratitude. And if in my career, I find advisers, friends, and mentors, who foster the same curiosity, maturity, and introspect as I have found at the UHP, I’ll be happy.
 
Kerry Lanzo is a member of the Elliott School of International Affairs Class of 2015, a student staffer at the UHP, and a student peer adviser.