Burps. Gunshot wounds. Horror films. These things don't disgust me.

What disgusts me is greed — greed and egotism. How ironic that these two vices I disgust most exist in a University I thought I loved entirely.

I have recently just been afforded the opportunity to live, work and study in our nation's capital, arguably the best place in the world for journalism students. The program, through another university, has been established for years and has a great reputation for placing students in rewarding internships during their stay in Washington.

The problem is that Notre Dame established its own D.C. program a few years ago and doesn't like to be passed over for another. I was wait-listed by Notre Dame's program and fought through the following months to get a realistic idea of my chances. Realism hit when numerous unanswered summer e-mails led me to near apathy.

But I didn't give up.

One sunny summer day my mailman returned hope to my life with a letter from another university offering a semester in Washington, D.C.

Somewhere in between receiving the university's application and working, the summer ended with the application untouched. When I returned to school, however, I decided this is what I really wanted to do. I knew my parents would be upset if I pursued it and that it might be a difficult process to complete. But something inside me told to push on. "Never live in regret," I told myself. "Don't roll over and die simply because Notre Dame said `no.'"

You can imagine how happy I was to get my acceptance letter. It was, literally, that getting-into-college feeling again. My friends couldn't have been more excited. They showered me with pride and it was hard not to get wrapped up into it all and ahead of myself, not considering the fact that I might not be able to go.

But I did — I believed my University would be behind me. It had honestly never occurred to me that, for one reason or another, Notre Dame would deny me the opportunity to educate myself.

Without elaborating, there exist two problems in my D.C. fulfillment: money and opportunity. And I seem to be getting nowhere in either department. I was told only a certain number of students can apply by a certain date to study through another school's program. Late-comers like myself, therefore, are left in the cold.

I've exhausted nearly every outlet and sought after nearly every loophole. My optimism is hanging by a very thin thread, a thread continually thinned by the University' s reluctance.

It's a horrible thing to hit walls of opposition. It's as if I've been trapped in some twisted circuitous dance where I take one step forward, then two back.

Isn't it in Notre Dame's best interest to keep one of its students happy? Isn't it in the best interest of this University to allow me to expand my mind for a semester, earn incredible résumé-building experience and come back senior year to share this information with my peers? Isn't it in this school's best interest to promote more program-sharing and not assume its program is the only one from which I could benefit?

What kind of institution limits the number of mind-expanding experiences? What kind of institution hinders a student's chance to become a more well-rounded individual?

I guess I have my answer.

We are ND.

• We are ND