Where will I be next December? I graduate in Less than Six Months

Zarrish Ahmed is a senior at Georgetown University in Qatar majoring in International Politics with an independent Certificate in South Asian Studies. She reflects on how studying South Asian history reshaped her understanding of identity, power, and education.

This story is part of the Desert Hoya Blog, written by GU-Q students about their experiences and life as members of the Georgetown community in Qatar.

The realization that I’ll be graduating in less than six months brought tears I couldn’t control. Today, I have the privilege to call GU-Q my second home. I can go to campus in the middle of the night to play table tennis, walk into the Wellness Center during a crisis and find warmth and care, or step into any department and see familiar faces who greet me with genuine connection. There’s a strange kind of comfort in the small routines here, the elevator that has no close button but somehow I don’t mind. Having karak in the atrium almost every lunch hour. And knowing that Frances and Gladys, security guards in our building, will worry if they don’t see me on campus for two or three days. Joebee from the O’Street Café knows my exact order without me saying a word. It’s in these simple, ordinary moments that I’ve found belonging, in shared laughter, inside jokes, and the quiet joy of being known.

I’ve spent my years here doing everything I could, serving the community through multiple job roles and my extra curricular activities. More than a degree, Georgetown has given me confidence, purpose, and people who made me believe I could belong anywhere in the world. 

Yet, the thought of that place not being Georgetown makes my heart sink.

Georgetown has taught me how to be human in a world that can be inhumane, how to have a heart that beats for people in an age of heartlessness, and how to remain alive, authentic, and caring. I was always an optimist, but Georgetown made me an optimist who isn’t delusional because my coursework grounded me in reality. Every role I took, from being the Hoya Welcome Week Coordinator to chairing my first-ever Student Liaison Committee meeting

You might think, “It’s just a university.” But when you’re an international student far from home, finding a community that feels like family changes everything. The Hoya family has been my anchor, a support so strong it makes me feel I can conquer anything. The slightest thought of not walking through these doors every morning hurts.

Yes, I’ll be an alumna, and I know I’ll come back often. But it won’t be the same. I won’t be part of the daily rhythm, the last-minute event setups, the familiar laughter in the student lounge, the spontaneous hallway chats that turn into hour-long conversations. Just as I’m away from the family that raised me now, I will soon be away from the Georgetown family that shaped who I’ve become.

As I prepare for what comes next, I hold on to the lessons this place has given me, the courage to show up, the grace to keep learning, and the heart to build new communities wherever I go. I don’t know where I’ll be next November, but I know I’ll carry a piece of Georgetown with me, in the way I listen, lead, and care.

One day, when I walk past a row of flags somewhere else in the world, I know my heart will still flutter at the sight of the blue and gray. Because some places never really leave you, they live in the rhythm of your heartbeat and in the stories you continue to tell.

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