Open Door Dinner: Are You Creating Life or is Life Creating You?

The questions are easy enough to anticipate.  They come right after I tell people I’m a senior in college. There is only the smallest of hesitations before I hear, “So what’s next?” Or, “What are you going to do with that [English major]?”  I usually say something generic about grad school or doing service.  But the real answer? I have absolutely no idea!  I’m only twenty years old!

So when we were choosing the theme for Companions’ first Open Door Dinner, the reflection “Are You Creating Life or Is Life Creating You?” seemed perfect.  It was an opportunity to discuss school decisions, job pressures and post-college uncertainties with other Hoyas.  Those worries may be generic, but the conversation was anything but.  We reflected on ourselves, told stories of how we’ve encountered these challenges and discussed why we feel so worried about outside influences.

In that process, they assured me that I was not alone.  We assured each other that no one is alone in this wonderful, sometimes weary and always wild adventure.  And in that way, I think that this first Open Door Dinner of the year really did serve up prayer, reflection and community in just the right portions.  A group of strangers, of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors, shared not only a meal but a sentiment of solidarity about the anxieties, pressures and joys of attending a school like Georgetown.

People will still ask me those questions about what I’m doing next, and I still won’t really know how to answer them.  But I do feel more confidence in knowing that there are other people who also don’t have answers.  It doesn’t mean we won’t be successful.  It means we’re taking the time to make sure we’re creating our own lives.

Written by Julie Zovak, C’16