Correction appended
As holiday mascots go, Christmas has Santa Claus, Valentine's Day has Cupid and New Student Orientation has Troy Majnerick.
For one week each September, Majnerick lives and breathes NSO, the first days each freshman class spends on Penn's campus. It's his job to plan such events as the Library Social and the Toga Party at the Penn Museum.
But how does Majnerick, an employee of Penn's Housing and Conference Services, spend the other 51 weeks of the year?
November could easily be downtime for Majnerick, a month spent catching up on Lost episodes and responding to old e-mails.
But instead, he spends the winter and fall seasons planning smaller events and working with the students of Penn's Residential Advisory Board.
Events like the College House Cup and Fall Fest may pale in comparison to the sheer size of NSO, but as long as Majnerick gets to work with students, he says he's happy.
And NSO is always in the back of his mind -- some future members of the Class of 2011 haven't even turned in their applications yet, but Majnerick is already envisioning their first few days of college.
"The overall planning has already begun," Majnerick said.
At 28, Majnerick's college days are years behind him, but his excitement as he speaks about his events seems to put him closer to 18.
"I'm not too far removed from being an undergraduate or graduate student, so I feel like I can still understand the plight of the students," Majnerick said.
And since Penn essentially pays Majnerick to plan parties, it doesn't look like his collegiate lifestyle will be changing anytime soon.
Majnerick, who went to graduate school for education, said he didn't plan to use his master's degree to plan parties. At the same time, he said his personality makes him "the eternal social chair."
And students may not remember him, but they'll probably recall some of his pet projects -- like pre-freshman year networking service Pennster and the Toga Party - during their next four years of Penn.
For students who consider themselves the life of the party, Majnerick even offered some event planning advice.
"Free food is rule No. 1."
But there are still nine months between now and the annual September onslaught of free pizza - and Majnerick has no intention of wasting them.
Correction: This story incorrectly states that Majnerick works in Housing and Conference Services; he actually works in College Houses and Academic Services. The story also featured a photograph that is not of Troy Majnerick.
