What’s your defining moment?

With the fall term coming to an end, we asked  freshmen and upperclassmen to share a few highlights of their first Penn semester.

Nicholas Guth, Junior

My friend Bobby and I decided to get an apartment together next year. Bobby is a student at Temple University and is studying Secondary Education English. The proper apartment, then, rests not in University City, but near Center City, or even in South Philly!

Once again I’ll have what I’ve always wanted back: a school and a home that were separate entities. I’ve never been more excited to let my love for Philly guide me to what I hope to call my home for the next few years!

Desmond Howard, Freshman

My defining time at Penn was being able to go out with my college house and kinda experience Philadelphia. We went on a mural tour and it was really cool. I got to see some of the sights that I would not have known before and it was an awesome time to get to know people I usually wouldn’t have known otherwise.

Nick Hunsicker, Freshman

Getting into Glee Club and having them come to my door to take an initiation shot!

Kirsten Hewitt, Junior

Last week, I found out that I became President of the Mayor’s Scholars Program here at Penn. I’ve been a part of this program since I was a Freshman. I first became a mentor and then VP of high school engagement. I worked so long for this program and I’m so happy this semester being able to lead this program into the next calendar year and I’m so excited about it.

Christian Petrillo, Freshman

It was raining one day, and I was walking outside with a hoodie and a pair of shorts. It was so warm out for October. I looked like a complete mess with a pumpkin ice coffee. I saw a few kids in suits holding Barclaycards. I said, ‘Wow I don’t fit in here.’

Initially, it made me feel like I’m missing out on something but not anymore. That’s not true of everyone. There’s a very diverse group of people here. My defining moment is that I learned to become an individualist.  I’m happy I have many friends in different groups.”

Mary Dever, Freshman

This semester I learned something super important, coining my own phrase: ‘Shit people do shit things.’ Simple as that. And there’s no way you can change people or figure them out – both impossible. The only positive thing you can do is realize you deserve better.

You deserve people who are down for coffee, a donut, and a solid conversation. You deserve people that’ll be okay with you fulfilling your childhood dream by dressing up as Princess Mia from Princess Diaries on Halloween instead of going out half-dressed. You deserve people in your life that will accept you and love you for being just that, and sometimes that takes time. But I’ve learned that it’ll happen.”

Breanne Mastromarino, Freshman

For my first semester so far, running for and winning the position of Nursing Class Chair. The most significant part of this experience was building connections with other Freshmen, especially Freshmen in the Nursing School, like who I’d end up spending my four years with. I actually had a lot of fun during the campaign process, especially building connections with the campaign people.

These were social connections that I started building when I came to Penn and I just expanded on them through the whole campaign process. I had a lot of fun campaigning and meeting all types of people. When I won this position, I was really proud of myself and very excited. I knew I had so much to look forward to this year. I was joining a group I would not have joined otherwise.

The great thing about being part of Class Board is that everyone is so different from each other. That’s what makes us work so well together. Everyone is from different schools, different places, and we all have different personalities. Class Board has definitely been one of the most significant experiences at Penn and it defines my freshman year so far.”