Kicking off the University's 265th year, Penn officials welcomed over 2,000 freshmen to campus in an inspirational Convocation ceremony.
President Amy Gutmann took the podium to welcome the freshman class into the Penn community, calling this a second family for both her and the students.
Like the Class of 2008, Gutmann is new to the University and said that she knows her and Penn "are the perfect fit."
As freshmen gathered in white lawn chairs eagerly watching their president speak, many thought back on the whirlwind orientation week.
Nursing freshman Alisse Hauspurg explained that New Student Orientation "has been a lot of fun [and had] a lot of great activities." Convocation, according to Hauspurg, was just the beginning of many adventures to come.
For others, Convocation served as a step into reality.
"Orientation made it feel like it was still summer -- it's misleading," College freshman Warner Robinson said.
Yet despite the different thoughts running through students' minds, Gutmann assured the freshmen of one thing.
While "you're anxious to know where the hell you are going, fear not. You're all on the same train."
It is this four-year locomotion that interim Provost Peter Conn said will allow students to "explore, learn, take risks [and] reach out. [And thus students] will find Penn to be a powerful place."
It is this family atmosphere at Penn that will not only allow students to "embark upon a new [academic] journey" -- according to Wharton freshman Angela Davis -- but also to meet people who will become friends for life.
"Obviously it's not hard to form friends at Penn," Gutmann said.
And the freshman class agrees. Some met so many people during NSO that they said it has been more than overwhelming.
"I met a lot of people, but I don't have the names straight," College freshman Caitlin Fitzgerald said.
With such a positive outlook for the Class of 2008, event coordinators were happy to report that Convocation and NSO ran much more smoothly this year than in the past.
Much of this organization fluidity resulted from the formation of Peers Helping Incoming New Students, which is comprised of upperclassmen who volunteered to help with orientation activities.
However, PHINS was not the only novel part of Convocation. The Class of 2008, as Gutmann explained, is comprised of "extraordinary, independent minds that our divided world needs now more than ever."
Gutmann continued by naming some of the accomplishments of the incoming class.
Amongst the 2,400 freshmen, one anonymous student received a perfect score on the ACTs, a first of any Penn student.
In addition to academic achievements, the freshman class is also full of kind, devoted people. One student, a refugee from Uganda, worked in construction this past summer to help make money to build two wells in his former village that currently bring water to 600 people.
According to University faculty, it is obvious that the Class of 2008 has many more years of success to come.
