School is starting, and here at the UHP we’re very excited that our office is coming alive again! After the months of quiet, monotonous days in the Townhouse, we’re ready to bring it to life… but we need your help!
Come join us for an Open House on Thursday, September 10th from 1pm-3pm in the Club Room. We’ll be hanging out with some sweet snacks, eager to socialize with the lovely students of the UHP. Freshman, Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors, and faculty- everyone is welcome!
Category: Featured
Freshman Small Group Meetings
Hey Freshmen!
Sign up for a small group meeting time. What’s that, you ask? Here’s some of the stuff we’ll cover at this round of small group meetings:
- Learn how to make a 4-year plan!
- Time Management 101!
- Get answers to all your UHP-related questions!
Think of these as your orientation to the University Honors Program. Every first-year student must attend one of these meetings.
Each freshmen small group meeting will last 1 hour and is capped at 15 students (these are small group meetings, after all). They’ll all be hosted in the UHP club room at the below listed times. Sign up online today to make sure you get the time slot you prefer!
- Thursday, September 3, 10:00-11:00 AM
- Thursday, September 3, 2:30-3:300 PM
- Friday, September 4, 10:30-11:30 AM
- Friday, September 4, 3:00-4:00 PM
- Tuesday, September 8, 9:30-10:30 AM
- Tuesday, September 8, 1:30-2:30 PM
- Wednesday, September 9, 11:00 AM -12:00 PM
- Wednesday, September 9, 4:00-5:00 PM
- Friday, September 11, 10:30-11:30 AM
- Friday, September 11, 1:30-2:30 PM
- Friday, September 11, 3:00-4:00 PM
If you have trouble signing up, please contact the UHP front office: 202-994-6816.
Freshmen Honors Community Welcome [Event]
Freshman move in is right around the corner, and we are so excited for you to get here! There’s going to be a lot going on your first week at GW, but don’t miss the Honors Community Welcome dinner, exclusively for incoming Honors freshmen, on Wednesday, September 2nd from 6-8 PM in Post Hall on the Mount Vernon Campus.
This is going to be a super fun, no-pressure way to get to know your new peers, meet some staff and faculty, and grub on some free dinner! We can’t wait to assimilate – I mean welcome – you to the Honors Program!
My Relationship with the UHP – Four Years Strong
As a graduating senior, I reflect upon my time at GW and the UHP with nostalgia and the clarity of hindsight. I raise my foot for the impending step into adulthood, and I remember the UHP fondly and with love (and hope it remembers me, too).
To the Classes of 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. Take advantage of the UHP – for the mental challenge, the warm hug of community, and the Cheers-like atmosphere where everybody knows your name.
Behold, our Beloved Townhouse. Holy Fountain of Coffee and Hot Chocolate. Righteous Bearer of Snacks.
Over the past four years, I’ve spent countless hours as a Student Staffer, Student Peer Adviser, and just plain Student, dependent on this place for the community it fosters. I came to the UHP for the academics – but I stayed for the community. We take classes in this building (if we’re lucky), and this is where the magic of friendships, advising, and pumpkin carving takes place. The Townhouse is our bubble that is exclusive, but at the same time, endlessly welcoming.
Let’s backtrack to writing the Common App in 2010 (WHOA), passively writing my Honors essay, not actually understanding it had a curriculum (shame on me). Fast forward to Fall 2011, when, on Thanksgiving Day, I cried on the phone with Eyal, asking for an extension on my draft term paper. Months later, I interviewed to be a Student Peer Adviser and ended up being hired also as a Student Staffer. By May, I was in love. This relationship was for real. My eventual departure had not even crossed my mind. Through Honors, I gained research experience, work experience, failure experience, and decision-making experience, all with a comfy safety net below me.
Many people speak about Origins and Evolution of Modern Thought as the fundamental Honors experience – and in its exposure to Honors expectations, it is. But Senior Fall, during my Senior Capstone with famed Faculty in Residence/Tall Outdoorsy Professor Mark Ralkowski, I sat back in my comfy, ripped Club Room chair and observed around the table all of my friends, fellow seniors, in class discussion debating, having read a long, dense article for a Pass/Fail class. These were kindred people to me. We grew up together, in a way. This is what I had worked towards. I worked to appreciate this discussion, these people, and this community. This is not just the Capstone, but also the Cornerstone experience that sheds light on my four years here.
Today is April 30, 2015. I’ve attended my last InsideGW session with prospectives, and my last Student-Faculty dinner. I gave my token speeches on how much I hated physics but loved class with Bethany Kung, and how I wish William, Catherine’s three year old, was actually my son. I’ve started to say goodbye. And I hope that all students behind me recognize this potential for this community to be sharply defining. I didn’t love every minute, but I loved all four years.
This is the sappy part where I say Thank You, and undoubtedly where many of you will stop reading (it’s okay, you’ve made it pretty far).
To my fellow Students – Thank you for putting up with me in class, and at least trying to understand me before disagreeing vehemently.
To my Professors – Thank you for your dedication to the program and to me. I owe you all baked goods.
To Eydie – Thank you for being my Mama Bear, and for not judging me too hard when I struggled with locking doors and silly things like that.
To Catherine – Thank you for sharing your son, laughing at my jokes, and making me feel like one in a million, even amongst the thousands of students you care for. All of the applause for you and your award.
To Alex and Mary – We don’t have much time left to get to know each other in the Townhouse, but best of luck, and hopefully we stay friends!
UHP Research Showcase This Thursday!
Join #TeamUHP this Thursday to celebrate the research of your peers at the University Honors Program Research Showcase!
Enjoy brief, casual talks and ask questions this Thursday, April 30th from 1pm to 3pm in the Club Room of the Honors Townhouse. Let your fellow UHPers know how proud we are of their dedication and willingness to take a risk in order to contribute and disseminate original work as active scholars! It’s going to be beautiful.
Honors Cords, Grad Reception, and the Senior Survey
Hey Seniors HEYYYYYYY
If you’re graduating, have we got the survey for you! When you complete it, you can pick up your gold honor cord to wear at graduation. You can also pick up your 5 tickets for the UHP Graduating Seniors reception. I’m not saying we’re holding your cords and tickets hostage, but I’m also not not saying it.
Here’s what you need to know:
First, complete the senior survey. You can do this online starting today — make sure to follow the link at the very end to submit your name on a separate form! We keep your responses and your name separate so that you can feel free to be honest, but we need to confirm that you’ve completed the survey. That last step is key!
Next, come pick up your golden cord and graduating senior reception tickets at the Foggy Bottom office staring Monday, May 4th. You can continue to pick up your materials any time during regular business hours (9AM-5PM) after that up until the Thursday before graduation. We’ll check to make sure you’ve already completed the Senior Survey.
Finally, attend the UHP Graduating seniors reception. We’ll be in the City View Room at 1957 E Street from 5-7pm on Saturday, May 16th, 2015. Please note the reception will feature a cash bar and you will be able to pick up one drink ticket per guest when you check in at the reception.
We look forward to seeing you and your guests at the reception!
Townhouse Study Hours
Everybody knows the best place to study for finals is the UHP Townhouse. Peace and quiet? Check. Coffee and snacks? Check. Other little geniuses? Check.
So stop by for some quality gettin’ it done during extended study hours. Full schedule below.
4/30 – 5/1 5p-10p
5/2 – 5/3 12p-10p
5/4 – 5/8 5p-10p
5/9 – 5/10 12p-10p
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.
Student-Faculty Dinner!!!!!
STUDENT-FACULTY DINNER TICKETS ARE NOW AVAILABLE. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Get your ticket now for the student-faculty dinner on Wednesday, April 29 from 5-7 at Chalin’s Restaurant (1912 Eye St. NW). Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the Town House or the Ames Office.
It’s all-you-can-eat, so unleash your inner Kirby and EAT ALL YOU CAN.
UHP Young Alumni Panel
The UHP is excited to announce our upcoming Young Alumni Panel, “What’s Up Alum- One Year Out”! UHP alum, like our current students, are pretty awesome. They have a host of experiences, wisdom, and career expertise to share, and just recently confronted the post-grad “What am I doing” dilemma that many juniors and seniors face when it comes time to make career decisions. This will be a great opportunity to ask questions, share ideas, and network with some amazing alums and celebrate what makes our UHP community so special. So join us on Thursday, April 23 at 6 PM in the Club Room. Light refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP here.
Wonder who’s going to be there?
Below are the names, photos and bios of each panelist:
Shailly Gaur: BS in Biology ’14, Doctor of Medicine ’19, from Sayre, Pennsylvania. Shailly is currently an Emergency Department Scribe at Children’s National Medical Center. While at GW she served as Volunteer Coordinator for Camp Kesem GW and External Affairs Co-Chair for the UHP’s Student Peer Advising Program. She has worked at GW’s Gelman Library, GW’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences as a Research Assistant under Dr. Sally Moody, and GW’s Department of Biology as an Undergraduate TA for Dr. Randall Packer.
Rio Hart: BA in Political Science ’14, from Minneapolis, Minnesota. At GW, he was in the Honors Program (surprise!), was involved in the GW Radio, and studied abroad in Istanbul. Before graduating, he had internships with Senator Amy Klobuchar, Strategic Social (media monitoring in the Middle East), National Association of Conservation Districts, and Congressional Digest. He currently works at the Brookings Institution in the Center for Health Policy.
Andrew Hori: BA in Political Science, minor in Philosophy ’14 from Boston, Massachusetts. Cook. While at GW, he was involved in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, as well as a number of community service programs and organizations such as the Alternative Breaks Program, Community Building Community, and Alpha Phi Omega—the co-ed community service fraternity. Through his internship at World Central Kitchen–Chef Jose Andres’ humanitarian organization–he gained experience in sustainable international development, but also found a passion for cooking. You can now find him cooking full-time at two restaurants in D.C.
Rachel Weiss: BA in International Affairs ’14, from Highland Park, IL. Strategy and Operations Analyst at Deloitte Consulting LLP. While at GW she served as President of Balance: The GW Ballet Group. She has worked at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, the Democratic National Committee, Obama for America, and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Don’t forget to RSVP!
