Category Archives: Stephanie Y.

November 8, 2011 · 9:00 am

SPEC Connaissance: James Franco Edition

Author: Stephanie Y., C08

Thanks to SPEC Connaissance and my PennCard, I spent yesterday afternoon sitting in the 4th row of Irvine Auditorium listening to James Franco talk about his acting and academic careers. Each year, SPEC Connaissance brings an array of public figures to address the Penn community. Past speakers include Anderson Cooper, Madeline Albright, Henry Kissinger, Whoopi Goldberg, Peyton Manning (I attended), Billy Joel, Ben & Jerry, and Ellen DeGeneres (wait – when did ELLEN come? How did I miss that?) Tickets to the James Franco event were only available to PennCard holders. Hooray for working at Penn!

James Franco in Irvine Auditorium (photo credit: The Daily Pennsylvanian)

In addition to being a huge Hollywood star, Franco holds multiple advanced degrees (from UCLA, Columbia University, and New York University), and he is currently enrolled in a PhD program at Yale University. I have always been impressed with his CV, but I still wondered whether he was admitted into these programs based on merit or his name. During the interview, Franco admitted he receives special treatment for being famous, but the talk confirmed that he is brilliant, and he can certainly hold his own in an academic setting. The man is a true scholar in addition to being a super dreamy Hollywood star.

Here are a few fun facts from the talk:

  • Franco watches the Twilight movies because he is interested in why teenage murder is ok if the teenagers are vampires (good point…)
  • He spent 3-4 months cooped up in his apartment, reading about James Dean, isolated from his friends and family, and smoked two packs of cigarettes per day to transform into his character.
  • There are three movies he regrets making because he was disappointed with the final product (hmm three movies? Spiderman series, anyone?)

Thanks, SPEC Connaissance! I can’t wait to see who you bring to Penn next time.

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October 11, 2011 · 2:34 pm

Getting Excited for the Penn Gala

Author: Stephanie Y., C08

I am so excited to attend my first Alumni Award of Merit Gala during Homecoming Weekend featuring arts and culture this year. The Gala, sponsored by Penn Alumni, is a celebration of Penn’s most passionate and dedicated alumni volunteers, and awards are given for outstanding service to Penn.

The Alumni Award of Merit and Young Alumni recipients are chosen by Penn Alumni’s Awards & Resolutions Committee, which is comprised of former winners. These winners are always super accomplished and impressive, and they have contributed so much to the Penn community. Reading their bios always inspires me and reminds me there is always more to give back to the Penn community.

The Club Award recipient is chosen by the Global Alumni Network Advisory Board. Two years ago, the Penn Alumni Club of Philadelphia received this award, and those of us in Philadelphia are still excited about it.

The two awards that are near and dear to my heart are the Class Award of Merit and the David N. Tyre Class Communications Award. The recipients of these two awards are chosen by the Alumni Class Leadership Council. As a member of the ACLC, I have worked closely with many alumni classes during their reunion years, and it is a wonderful feeling to see classes receive recognition for their hard work. The Gala is open to the whole Penn community — alumni, family, students, faculty, staff and friends – and I hope to see you there.

The 77th Annual Alumni Award of Merit Gala

Friday, November 4, 2011

6-10 PM

Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

3680 Walnut St – Philadelphia, PA

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September 29, 2011 · 3:33 pm

Tug of War: The Penn Park Version

Author: Stephanie Y., C’08

I’m always surprised how much Penn students love tug of war. The annual sorority tug of war competition in the Palestra is always quite the spectacle, and this year, the College Houses battled it out at the Penn Park Field Day. Being a College House lifer (I lived in Rodin College House all 4 years), I was really excited to see all the College House gear at Penn Park. Check out Rodin’s awesome yellow headbands. I wish we had those when I lived in Rodin! I also loved Hill House’s “We’re too cool for A/C” t-shirts (not pictured). Very clever.

Rodin College House and the power of the yellow headbands

Rodin College House, Part II

Stouffer College House

Teams of 10 competed in the single-elimination tournament, and Stouffer College House won it all. In fact, the championship round was Stouffer A vs. Stouffer B, so they got 1st and 2nd place. They managed to win without the power of matching headbands or matching t-shirts. Very impressive. I hope everyone has checked out Penn Park. It’s absolutely beautiful, and I can’t wait to play on the new tennis courts and run the Penn Park Homecoming 5K on Saturday, November 5, 2011.

Stouffer College House – Penn Park Tug of War Champions (pictured with the Michael G. Housman College House Cup)

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September 13, 2011 · 1:52 pm

Three Cheers for Penn Move-In

Author: Stephanie Y., C08

I left home for Penn when my youngest brother was starting 6th grade. During Labor Day Weekend this year, I drove up to Boston to help him move in to college. Kids – they grow up so fast! Just like Penn, my brother’s school is located in the heart of a large urban area. Unlike Penn, his school only offers on-campus housing for 25% of the student population. Even worse, not all freshmen are guaranteed housing. When my brother received the housing brochure in the mail, there was a note attached that said on-campus housing was full. Fortunately, his school set up online forums for students to find off-campus roommates and apartments. Two weeks before my brother moved in, we realized off-campus housing meant unfurnished bedrooms. IKEA, here we come!

My brother lives on the 5th floor of his building. Luckily, there is an elevator, but we still had to carry everything from the car up to his apartment. After only a few trips back and forth, I started to wish we had move-in volunteers and PHINS to help us. Thank you, Penn, for providing those services for new and returning students. As I was building IKEA furniture in my brother’s unfurnished bedroom, I felt grateful that I didn’t have to buy any furniture until I graduated from Penn. At the time, a twin bed, a desk, a desk organizer, and a dresser did not seem like much, but you don’t realize how much easier it is to have all those items until you walk into an empty bedroom. I spent the whole weekend feeling grateful that Penn has enough on-campus housing for freshmen and a great move-in process. Even though my brother’s apartment is awesome and is in an amazing location (his building is literally next to Fenway!), I can’t imagine finding my own apartment before moving to Penn, spending NSO buying and building furniture, and then living off-campus during freshman year. I give my brother a lot of credit.

While most of the weekend consisted of driving on I-95 and going to every major store for back-to-school shopping, I did get to go to a Boston Red Sox game (they lost miserably to the Texas Rangers), try a few new restaurants, and enjoy some family time. Boston is a great city, and I am looking forward to visiting more often now that my brother lives there. You will definitely see me at the Penn vs. Harvard basketball game on Saturday, February 25, 2012. Go Quakers!

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August 30, 2011 · 2:31 pm

Penn Alumni Helping Our Neighbors, One Breakfast Sandwich (and Green Bell Pepper) at a Time

Author: Stephanie Y., C08

Last Monday, I had the privilege of bringing a group of ten Penn Alumni Club of Philadelphia members to volunteer at MANNA (Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance) to help prepare meals for their clients. Each month, MANNA prepares and home-delivers more than 70,000 nutritious meals to individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS, cancer or other life-threatening illnesses. MANNA’s small professional staff and 1,500 dedicated volunteers deliver medically appropriate nutrition to their clients – 3 meals a day, 7 days a week – at no charge. The MANNA group volunteer coordinator scheduled us for 5:00-8:00PM, but I told him it was likely our group would arrive closer to 5:30PM since our volunteers would be coming straight from work. However, at 5:00PM, the large majority of our group was already in the kitchen, hands washed, aprons and hairnets on, and ready to chop! Now that’s Penn initiative and dedication!

Photos courtesty of Melody Kramer, C'06

Our group was split into two: meat and non-meat. The meat group put together Canadian bacon and egg breakfast sandwiches conveyor belt style. The non-meat group chopped green bell peppers for two hours. Which group would have you chosen? I was in the breakfast sandwich group, even though I would choose to eat a bell pepper over a breakfast sandwich any day. Non-vegetarian veggie lovers unite! Anyway, back to the breakfast sandwich conveyor belt. The first person in line made the breakfast sandwich: one piece of Canadian bacon and one egg patty in between two pieces of bread. The second person put the breakfast sandwich into a Ziploc bag and sealed the bag. The last person placed a sticker on the bag. The sticker said something like “Canadian bacon and egg sandwich” – makes sense. We had both sides of the table putting together and packaging the breakfast sandwiches, and we ended up with hundreds of breakfast sandwiches ready to deliver! We ran out of Canadian bacon for the last two breakfast sandwiches, so those labels read “Egg sandwich” with the “Canadian bacon and” part crossed out. I hope the two clients who receive those sandwiches are not terribly disappointed.

Photos courtesty of Melody Kramer, C'06

After the breakfast sandwiches, the meat group did a variety of tasks. First, we packaged dinner rolls (two per Ziploc bag). Then, we opened grocery bags and stuffed them inside each other for the next day’s delivery (you know how grocery bags are tough to open when they’re brand new and stuck together? That’s why we opened them, so the next day’s volunteers would have an easier time organizing the delivery bags). Last, we opened packaged stuffing and poured the stuffing into cardboard boxes and the seasonings into plastic containers.

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August 16, 2011 · 8:02 am

Penn Saving the Planet, One Bike at a Time

Author: Stephanie Y., C’08

When I was an undergrad, I knew a number of students who rode their bikes regularly whether it was for commuting (biking to classes), for fun (biking to and from downtown), or for exercise (biking along the Schuylkill River and on Kelly Drive). Now I work full-time at Perelman School of Medicine (formerly known as Penn Med), and I am always pleasantly surprised to see how many employees also ride their bikes to and from Penn.

The bike racks by my building are always full by 9am, so people who show up five minutes late to work have to lock their bikes to trees. This does not seem environmentally-friendly to me, but as you can see, people do it!

The bike racks in front of my building are not even the most crowded on campus. You should go see the bike racks outside the Biomedical Library – I don’t even bother looking for a spot there.

So, you can imagine I was thrilled when I heard through the grapevine that some Penn alumni classes are working with The Penn Fund to donate new bike racks to Penn. Let’s hear it for Penn Alumni! Their mission is in line with Penn’s Green Campus Partnership and Reducing Emissions Initiative. Even though there are already many bike racks on campus, we definitely need more!

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August 2, 2011 · 1:59 pm

ACLC: Bringing Eight Decades of Penn Alumni Together

Author: Stephanie Y., C08

Everyone knows that Penn loves acronyms, and some of them can be quite long and confusing. In 2007, I joined the ACLC, the Alumni Class Leadership Council. Our acronym may be difficult to say, but our goals are straightforward. The ACLC is the governing board for the Penn alumni classes. We are a group of volunteer alumni leaders dedicated to strengthening ties between alumni and the University by acknowledging and reinforcing the importance of class affiliation. We mentor class presidents and reunion committees on planning their reunions, we help Alumni Relations plan Homecoming and Alumni Weekend, and we give out two awards annually to exceptional classes: the Class Award of Merit and the David N. Tyre Class Communications Award.

The ACLC has been a major part of my alumni experience, and my feelings about this incredible group were reinforced during our first annual ACLC retreat last Thursday. Our retreat began at 12 PM in Sweeten Alumni House with lunch and our guest speaker Dr. Santo D. Marabella. Dr. Marabella, also a Penn alumnus, spoke about “best practices” for boards of non-profit organizations. He had some good insights and recommendations that our board has already discussed implementing. Next up were group discussions and breakout sessions to discuss upcoming events and initiatives. Even though the executive board spent endless hours refining the agenda for the retreat, each session ran longer than scheduled because everyone was excited and engaged in the discussions. It was 5 pm before we knew it, which meant post-retreat celebration!

We walked over to Midatlantic Restaurant, one of my favorite restaurants on campus. Located at 38th and Market, Midatlantic is rarely packed. Students don’t often wander over to that area of campus, but they should. The food is delicious, the décor is unique, and the menu is always changing with seasonal specials (my favorite dish is the fennel soup). From our group’s three-course pre-fixe dinner menu, I ordered the corn soup, Midatlantic meatloaf with a side of creamy lima bean polenta and seasonal roasted vegetables, and Tastykake Butterscotch Bread Pudding. It was all delicious, especially the dessert. You can’t go wrong with Tastykake! The post-retreat dinner gave us an opportunity to get to know each other better. Some people even talked about non-Penn topics over dinner (wait, do we have lives outside of Penn?)

It’s rare to be able to interact with eight decades of people, let alone eight decades of people who have something in common, but the ACLC has brought together a wonderful group of Penn alumni volunteers who do not see age as a barrier. We benefit from the voices of alumni from all classes, and we hope to inspire other Penn alumni to strengthen their class bond through engagement, leadership, and their love for Penn.

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July 19, 2011 · 2:33 pm

Save 2nd Base: 2011 Penn Co-Rec Summer Softball CHAMPIONS!

Author: Stephanie Yee, C’08

I love Penn in the summer because the campus is green and quiet, and the food truck lines are not as long (except maybe at Magic Carpet). Another great Penn summer tradition is co-rec intramural summer softball. Departments around Penn put together softball teams, and the teams are divided into two leagues (National League and American League – just like in MLB). Teams in the same league play each other during the regular season, and then there are play-offs. The winner of each league advances to the Championship Game, which is played on Franklin Field.

After a few years in the summer softball community, you start to recognize some familiar names. For example, Penn Chem Isotopes (Chemistry Department) and Museum Rocks (Penn Museum) have been around for years. My all-time favorite name is the Home RN’s (School of Nursing). Team Captain Troy Majnerick changes the name of his softball team every year, so the big reveal is always exciting. One year we were Dwight’s Army of Champions (The Office, anyone?), and last year we were Habitual Line Steppers. This year, Troy’s softball team, Save 2nd Base, had two great things going for them. First, they were defending champions. Second, they were playing for a great cause. Save 2nd Base is a breast cancer apparel company whose proceeds fund breast cancer research, education, and awareness programs through the Kelly Rooney Foundation.

Save 2nd Base team members donated $1 to the charity for every game they won during the regular season. They went 10-0 this year, so that’s $10 per team member in addition to the $550 they raised as hosts of Socially Conscious Philadelphia’s July event. At the end of the season, the team had collected close to $1,000 for breast cancer awareness and research. AND they won the championship game! AGAIN! These players are true champions.

Save 2nd Base: 2011 Penn Co-Rec Summer Softball CHAMPIONS!

Anyone with a PennCard can play summer softball, so I encourage all Penn staff, graduate students, and undergraduate students who are on campus during the summer to find a team to join. It’s great fun, and you meet Penn people from all over the university. Save 2nd Base lives for summer softball, and I can see why. They are two-time champions now. CONGRATS!

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July 6, 2011 · 1:10 pm

Eating and Scooping Ice Cream for a Great Cause

Author: Stephanie Yee, C’08

This past Saturday, I scooped 15 gallons of ice cream at the 13th annual “all-you-can-eat” ice cream Super Scooper event.

Event Banner

Each year during the 4th of July weekend, the Joshua Kahan Fund hosts its annual event at Penn’s Landing. 100% of the net proceeds go towards pediatric leukemia research and annual pediatric prom at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. For a $7.00 donation, you get a spoon and admission into a large tent filled with many different ice cream stations. You can go to as many stations as you wish and taste as much ice cream as you want. The event runs 12-5pm each day, and you can stay for as long as you want. Can anything be better? Ben & Jerry’s, Häagen-Dazs, Bassett’s, Friendly’s, Jack & Jill, Turkey Hill, Breyer’s, water ice, and more. You name it, and it was there. Talk about a childhood dream come true.

Right Side of the Tent

My group arrived at the tent at 10AM. Our shift was 10:30AM-3PM, but we arrived early to find a good parking spot. We checked in at the volunteer table, received our free t-shirt, free hat, and shiny blue volunteer wristband. At 11AM, the volunteers were gathered together for a quick speech, group photo, and free lunch (yep, they fed us, too – so nice!) We learned that the Joshua Kahan Fund had already raised over $900,000 for CHOP, and they expected to pass $1,000,000 that weekend! After lunch, we washed out hands, put on our gloves, and then the chaos began.
I was stationed at the Jack & Jill table with two other Penn alumni. We scooped strawberry ice cream for three hours straight. We saw excited kids, tired kids, and kids screaming of brain freeze and tummy aches. We saw adults there by themselves, adults chaperoning their kids, and adults chaperoning other people’s kids. We also saw adults acting like kids. It was all-you-can-eat ice cream – what do you expect?

The Crowd

After our shift was over, I tried a vanilla sundae ice cream, black cherry ice cream, and black raspberry ice cream. After that, I was ice-creamed out. Today, I heard from the event organizers that they passed their $1,000,000 mark this weekend. Hurrah for volunteer work, hurrah for ice cream, and hurrah for Penn Alumni!

Half of the Penn Alumni Club of Philadelphia members who volunteered at the Super Scooper event standing in front of Turkey Hill ice cream and a Turkey Hill cow

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June 21, 2011 · 3:48 pm

Shopping for Penn Colors

By: Stephanie Y., C’08

Red and blue is the best color combination.  I am sure you all agree.  When I am shopping, I always keep my eye out for red and blue clothing because there is no such thing as too much red and blue.  I have seen (and purchased) red and blue striped polo shirts, red and blue argyle socks, and blue sweaters to match my red blouses. Today, I saw this pair of sunglasses on display:

I bought the same pair of sunglasses last month, but mine are solid black.  When I saw this pair in red and blue, I almost bought them.  I could use two pairs of sunglasses, right?  No, I do not need two pairs of the same sunglasses…but they’re PENN COLORS.  They are the same style as the pair I already own…but they’re PENN COLORS.  They are quite expensive…but they’re PENN COLORS (this argument usually wins).  I was tempted, but in the end, I decided to walk away from the sunglasses.  It’s too bad because I could really use a pair of red and blue sunglasses to go with my red and blue Penn running hat.

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