Category: Georgetown Faces

Title: Bella Gerard (C’17)

Bella Gerard smiles for the camera in front of the Washington Monument.

“I’m from New Jersey – just like everybody else at Georgetown. At least that’s what I thought on day one, but since then I’ve met friends from all over the world that now feel like family. Now I’ve got my real home in NJ, one here on the Hilltop, and others all over the world with the people I love.

I remember the moment I got my acceptance letter to Georgetown – I was in London studying Shakespeare, having the worst day ever. (To have a bad day somewhere as amazing as London means it’s pretty rough, let me tell you.) I went with a group of friends to the Harry Potter hot spot Platform 9 3/4; it was there I got the call from my family letting me know I got in. I burst out crying, and everyone thought I was simply excited over the Harry Potter stuff. Because of this, I laugh a little extra any time someone compares Healy Hall to Hogwarts.

Coming from a family of Hoyas, Georgetown was always the dream. Since getting accepted, I wear the name “Hoya” as proudly as I do my own last name. My father went to Georgetown, as did his brother and sister, and their father came here for med school. The hilltop just made sense for me, and there was never a moment when I second-guessed that this was the place I belonged. Everything about it felt second-nature to me, and the Georgetown traditions felt as familiar to me as my family’s own personal traditions. Now, my younger sister goes here as well, and thinking about our family’s Georgetown legacy makes being here with her all the more meaningful. “

More Georgetown Faces

A man stands smiling with his arms crossed in front of a clock tower and university seal

John LaRue’s fingerprints are all over campus. He designs banners on buildings and brochures for events. The art director found his forte though from an expected source.

A woman stands with her arms crossed and smiles on the street in front of a white building

After beginning her career in fashion, Valerie Coats now helps incarcerated men and women take Georgetown classes at the DC Jail.

Tracey Frazier-Akparawa’s nameplate sits on her desk in the Office of the Provost. But students know her by a different name.