Category Archives: Student Perspective

September 21, 2011 · 2:13 pm

Why I Am Here

Author: Jonathan Cousins, SEAS’14

Whenever I meet someone new, one of the first questions that come up is ‘Where do you go to school?’  Upon revealing that I go to Penn, I get a variety of responses, from the sadly common ‘Penn State?’ to ‘That’s a long way from California.’  But the question that sticks in my mind is this: ‘What made you choose Penn?’  Sometimes, when I am basking in the lack-of-humidity that is a California summer, I wonder the same thing myself.  There are times, mostly when the weather is poor, when I wonder why I didn’t choose the ocean views of UCSD.  But when I got back to campus, I remembered why.

One clear reason was sports.  When I got here I had no idea how much history there was in the Penn Athletics community.  But upon entering the oldest two-tiered football stadium in the country, and the Cathedral of College Basketball, I was sold.  And over the summer, I missed Penn sports.  There were times when I just wanted to walk into the Palestra, wait for the band and the basketball team, and watch a game.

But if it was the sports that brought me back, it was the school and community that kept me here.  When I got back early to be an OPA! (Orientation Peer Advisor) for incoming Mechanical Engineers, I got to see all my old friends again, and meet some new ones.  Instantly I fell back into a comfortable place socially – and I realized just how much I had missed my friends over the summer.  And when classes started I remembered that being a Mechanical Engineer at Penn is a lot of fun.  In one day last week I both cut metal and flew paper airplanes – and these were both part of classes!  Even in a more theoretical physics class, we took pictures of structures and got to talk about what makes them stand up and stay up.  I didn’t realize how many metal beams Franklin Field had until I went and took a picture of it.

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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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September 12, 2011 · 4:32 pm

Where Were You?

Author: Leigh Ann P.

Everyone remembers where he or she was on September 11, 2001.  People love to share their stories, no matter how boring or insignificant, and I am no different:  I was a sophomore at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, and I remember my roommate, Jenn, coming in to our room from her 8 AM class and telling me a plane had flown into the World Trade Center.  I remember still being in bed at 8:46 AM when the first plane hit, so this memory means two things to me:

1. First, this is my JFK-assassination memory moment, and I will never forget it, because like Kennedy’s assassination, it changed everything for a generation of people.  My entire life is now divided into pre-9/11 and post-9/11 memories, and I sometimes make these associations without even realizing it.  (Spice Girls?  Monica Lewinsky?  “Legally Blonde”?  Pre-9/11.  “The Forgotten”?  Justin Timberlake as a solo artist?  “Lost”?  Post-9/11).  The innocence of the last century and the nostalgia I have for it are not simply coincidental.   My entire adult life has been and will always be post-9/11, defined by that most terrifying day; naïveté must be replaced by paranoia out of sheer necessity – not just because I’m now an adult, but because I’m an adult in a post-9/11 world.

2. Second, there was a time in my life when I was able to sleep past 9 AM on a weekday. 

The Daily Pennsylvanian has a great interactive piece with “Where Were You?” stories from current Penn students.  I write as someone who was 19 on the day of the attacks, but many of these men and women were merely 7 or 8 years old on that day.  It is interesting to read about that day from a child’s perspective, and how the situation took on new meanings as they matured.

The DP also profiles five of Penn’s 16 fallen alumni in a touching piece found here.

Tell us in the comments where you were on 9/11/01.

President Obama surveys the 9/11 memorial site at Ground Zero.

 

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August 24, 2011 · 5:11 pm

Free Movies at Penn

Author: Dan Bernick, SAS’14

With my internship over I returned home to Minnesota for a month of rest and relaxation – err, I mean to find a cure for cancer and start two businesses like us Quakers are apt to do!

When I am home, I love watching movies with my mom.  This is not as lame as it sounds; we see “cool” movies like Planet of the Apes, The Debt, and anything with spies.  Whenever I see previews for movies that do not come out until school starts, I worry I will never see them.  But then I remember that SPEC has me covered.

The Social Planning and Events Commission (SPEC), one of my favorite branches of Penn Student Government, has a Film Society.  This is code for free movies students see before movie is in theaters.  It is the perfect excuse to skip studying and hang out with friends for a night, or take someone on an (inexpensive) date.  It is always fun to watch movies with friends because you generate a ton of jokes to be repeated ad infinitum for weeks. I can’t wait to get back to campus in just a few short weeks and start planning my social calendar.

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August 10, 2011 · 2:05 pm

Remembering Why

Author: Amanda D’Amico

As a staff member at The Penn Fund, I understand the important impact that philanthropy has on Penn’s students.  Penn Fund dollars help to support the 40% of Penn students who receive student aid; they help to support the 574 student organizations at Penn; and they affect each undergraduate at Penn.

But working in an administrative building away from students doesn’t allow me to regularly see what interesting things Penn students are doing because Penn Fund dollars helped to support their lab’s upgrade, or what riveting conversations are taking part in a small lecture hall because Penn Fund dollars helped to pay for more faculty members, or the value added by a student who would be unable to attend Penn without of the support of financial aid.  That’s why I was thrilled to venture with other members of The Penn Fund’s marketing team to Penn’s School of Nursing for a few hours.

A colleague in the School of Nursing set up a wonderful afternoon for us.  Our first stop was five minutes with Dean Afaf I Meleis, PhD, DrPS(hon), FAAN.  The Dean spoke to us about how giving at Penn, through The Penn Fund, the Nursing Annual Fund, and other sources, has impacted the school.  She spoke of her priorities for the school and of her vision for its future.

Next, we sat down with Angela Iorianni-Cimbak, MSN, RN, Director of the Brunner Lab.  Angela gave a wonderful presentation on the upcoming transformation of the simulation labs and the impact it would have on the students.  This was followed by a tour of the existing labs, complete with simulated patients and operating rooms.  We were able to peak at students as they practiced putting IVs in the arms of “patients,” and as they hurried around the simulation rooms which seemed to be almost as busy as a real ER.

At the end of our tour, we were able to meet with two undergraduate students who talked about their experiences at the Nursing School.  Their perspective was particularly interesting, as they were both second-degree students (meaning that they had received a bachelor’s degree from another University in another subject and were now attending Penn Nursing for the bachelor’s in Nursing).  The students talked about their experiences as non-traditional undergraduates and of the opportunities that Penn Nursing afforded them.

Overall, it was a fascinating and fantastic experience, and I can’t thank my colleagues enough in Nursing for taking the time out of their day to speak to us.  This visit really helped to emphasize the impact that philanthropy has on Penn’s students.

To learn more about the Penn’s School of Nursing, visit http://www.nursing.upenn.edu/Pages/default.aspx .

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July 28, 2011 · 9:30 am

Summer in DC

Author: Dan Bernick, SAS’14

Is it really almost August?  It seems like only a few weeks ago I arrived in DC and began interning at the White House Council for Community Solutions.  I’ve discovered that the old adage is really true. Time does fly when you’re having fun…And this seems especially so these past few months.

This summer has been perfect.  I met new people, made amazing connections, ate breakfast with my Senator, and even went bowling at the White House (I scored a 93 – harder than it looks!).  Better than all of that, I had a fantastic internship.

Having a great boss makes all the difference, especially when she is intently focused on mentoring and exemplifies strong leadership.  The team I work on was small and everyone (including the interns) has been given opportunities to contribute substantively.  My team has been a fun group, and we managed to both work hard and find time to laugh.

I’m determined to make the most of the few weeks left before I return to Philadelphia and start my sophomore year at Penn. I am doing everything I can to make the most of this experience.  Including making sure I take plenty of photos…

Did I Mention that I Met Al Franken This Summer?

Despite his lifelong career as a comedian, I discovered that Al Franken takes his job very seriously. Still, when it came time for photos, he cracked a few jokes about symmetry (you will notice we are perfectly in the middle).

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June 2, 2011 · 3:36 pm

City Girl?

Author: Tory Gobat, SEAS’10

The other day, my parents drove in to Philly in my dad’s pickup truck, a trailer in tow, to help me pack away most of what I own for moving. I pointed out my toenails to my mom. The night before, I had painted them a shiny royal blue (taking up time I could have used for packing…). She said, “Those make you look like a city girl to me.”

Six years ago, I was amidst my complex search for the “right” college. Part of the challenge in this quest was trying to find an institution that would allow me to pursue a major that was neither common nor clearly defined. I wanted something to do with computers, and graphics, but not too artsy since I rather lack talent in that area… Also, I wanted to be part of a marching band. During high school, I played in one and only grew to love that experience more and more. It became a must-have college criterion.

I didn’t have too many other preferences in college features, except I was sure I did not want to be in a city environment. Having spent my whole life  in one house in a small town, surrounded by nothing much but other small towns (and some shopping centers), city life seemed to be a big, scary, and unsafe experience.

Flash forward to this past spring. It’s freezing cold, and I’m late. Stalwartly positioned on the familiar corner where Locust Walk becomes Locust Street, I peer up 40th Street, hoping to see for the golden display on a city bus reading: “40 2-LOMBARD.” Over time, I’ve learned that certain  SEPTA buses are off schedule sometimes, but I’m hoping one might be coming soon. I’ve made an amazing number of trips on SEPTA now: buses, trolleys, and subways. I haven’t patronized a wide variety of routes, but navigating those I do take has become second nature. In fact, I’ve just purchased my June 2011 monthly pass, demarcating completion of my first full year of regularly riding SEPTA.

Every day, I swipe and step onto a SEPTA vehicle of some kind; crossing paths with numerous other city dwellers. “City dweller.” Is that who I am now? Penn provided my fledgling urban living experiment. It wasn’t an easy road: my first subway ride into Center City was made on the command of a friend, who dragged me to Chris’ Jazz Café because I had to see and write about a live jazz performance for the Jazz Style & History course I was taking. I realize now that my ventures off campus over the years remained relatively few in number and limited in scope.

Nonetheless, the Penn environment was the stepping stone I needed. I was (and still am) in love with the beautiful campus area surrounding Locust Walk. There, I felt protected from the streets when I so desired. But the bounding streets (34th, Spruce, 40th, Walnut) were of course just a block away in any direction, and I crossed them daily.

For the past year after graduation, I resided with fellow Penn students/grads of my same year, just a couple blocks west of campus.  Starting June 3 though, I will be a new resident of Center City. Leaving University City for Center City feels like the final step in detachment from Penn — certainly not that I want to be away from it. But one of my key motivations for staying (i.e. living and working full-time) in Philadelphia was to explore the city much more fully than I had done while living on campus. I have since made some progress and am eager for more; settling in this new spot will be one more step along the way.

So, am I a city girl now? I don’t think I can totally claim that title yet (and perhaps not for awhile). But I do know that I am truly enjoying the process, and am grateful for the critical part that my Penn experience has given me.

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May 30, 2011 · 9:00 am

They Call It Summer Vacation

Author: Matt G., W’14

Finals are over; alumni weekend completed; graduation finished; so what’s next?

This thing they call “summer vacation.”

Summer vacation used to be exactly that: vacation. During the summer when I was a kid, we would spend summers hanging out with friends, swimming, watching time slip by. But when college hit, that all changed. Now, the word “vacation” has become a trick, a lie really. Summer is no longer for lying around, but rather it’s the time for a workplace change. Instead of sitting in a classroom taking notes, or studying in a library, we are on computers in offices or conducting experiments in labs. Or in my case, removing all the drywall in my home (internship doesn’t start for another couple weeks and my mom has put me to work).

Even though this is my first “college summer,” I think that I’m starting to understand why it’s so important to have a break from school. On top of the work experience and resume building, it reminds me of what I’m going to have to face in the real world. No matter how demanding school becomes, at the end of the day, it is still fun. These next three years will be the only three years for a long time, that I will be able to make mistakes without worry of being fired from a job.

But with all that said, the cliche still holds true at Penn: here, students work hard and play harder. No matter where we’re working, I’m sure we’ll all find a way to have a good time and…and somehow, to still have our summer vacation.

What I'm Doing for Summer Vacation

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May 19, 2011 · 2:04 pm

Goodbyes on Wheels

Author: Molly Sloss, SEAS’14

Moving Day at Penn (photo credit: The Daily Pennsylvanian

I never thought I would hate a cardboard box. My last week at Penn, the brown cubes on wheels became a new nemesis. Room by room, microwave by microwave, they were taking my freshman year away from me.

With the start of the last week of exams, in rolled the goodbye machines. Vans and trucks with plates from Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland, and New York arrived on campus. Shortly after, the streets were filled with caravans of cardboard move-out carts. Some were filled with mini-fridges, some with stuffed animals, some with freshmen taking turns pushing each other down Locust. Yes, that was me. Don’t tell the staff at Hill that’s why I renewed my cart 4 times. So eventually I found a way to embrace these boxes from hell. But it was not an easy feat.

I started to count down the time I had left with my friends by how full their carts were. One empty cart got me about an hour of time before goodbye. Then my friends’ rooms were empty. Their blankets that I slept with were boxed up, their food that I ate thrown out, and their whiteboards were no longer available for late-night self-expression. All of these things were in boxes. The boxes went in carts, then in vans where they were joined by their owners and before I knew it we were rising sophomores. All thanks to those cardboard carts.

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May 12, 2011 · 1:38 pm

Out of My Comfort Zone

Author: Jonathan Cousins, SEAS’14

When I was picking classes for this semester, I found that I had a few spots to take electives.  I was locked into math and physics, I needed a writing seminar, I wanted to take mechanical design, and I still had space for one more class.  I could have picked anything – but I chose to take Video 1.

This class, at least initially, was way out of my comfort zone.  Here I was, among students majoring in anything from fine arts to business, and we were all in the same room, doing the same thing.  The class topics ranged from technical camera details to discussions on visual storytelling – and it really appealed to me.  I loved how this class engaged all of the different parts of my brain – the creative side while writing or brainstorming, the artistic side while shooting video, and the logical side when editing.

I was worried at first that my lack of development in art would hinder me in an art class, but what ended up happening was completely unexpected.  My lack of sophistication allowed me to come up with ideas that others could not, and sometimes those ideas worked out very well.  This type of class is probably something I won’t experience again during my time at Penn, especially as my focus narrows down to courses in my field.  But my experience was so positive that maybe, just maybe, I’ll end up taking Video 2 sometime in the next three years.

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