Henry Parrott (SFS ’15) started coming to Georgetown as a 3-year-old, according to his father, psychology professor W. Gerrod Parrott. Henry and his two older brothers, Nick (COL ’12) and Andy (COL ’12), spent afternoons drawing on their father’s office chalkboard before sitting in on his classes a few years later.
“I remember thinking that was fun, and it definitely influenced my decision to come to Georgetown because I was like, ‘Wow, college classes are smart,’” Henry said....
“The number one reason I considered not going to Georgetown was definitely the proximity to home and the fact that I thought for college it was important to get away and sort of broaden your horizons a little bit,” Henry said. “When I talked to my dad about it, what he said is: ‘Don’t forget how big Georgetown is. You’d be amazed how much you can stay there, and it’ll still feel like a totally different world, and if you want to, it’ll be like I don’t even work here.’”...
Henry, however, thought this support system hurt his freshman year experience.
“At the end of the day, it was actually a bad thing for me,” Henry said. “I wasn’t pushed under the water and forced to swim for myself the way that so many other freshman are. … I didn’t have the same sort of pressure to find where I really wanted to be and find my place on campus.”
While Henry eventually found his place by pledging Alpha Phi Omega his sophomore year, studying abroad this fall in Shanghai has also brought a new perspective to his Georgetown career.
“The situation of having him abroad is different and may be a way that it’s more like for parents all the time when their kids are at college, although the added complexity of traveling in China is different from going to Notre Dame,” professor Parrott said.
For Henry, studying abroad has helped affirm his choice to attend Georgetown.
“I sort of noticed that when I first got here it felt a little bit like the way most people describe their freshman years of college,” Henry said. “Study abroad showed me that I didn’t miss out on anything.”
Ultimately, Henry advised others in the same situation to choose a school based on their own interests — not whether their parents will be having office hours down the hall.
“Take your parent out of the equation completely and make your decision based on that, because at the end of the day, it comes down to this school and whether or not you’re going to be happy here,” Henry said.
http://www.thehoya.com/growing-up-georgetown/ (
http://archive.is/b7flA)
