Presidential personalities: Amalfitano

College junior Matt Amalfitano does not believe in networking.

“I never understood the concept,” he said. “People are not a means to an end, they’re the end itself. You really just should make friends.”

And during his past three years at Penn, that’s exactly what Amalfitano has done.

Growing up in a half-Italian, half-Jewish household in rural Maryland, where he said the family’s “center of congregation was the kitchen,” Amalfitano has always loved being around people — whether he is taking his three younger sisters out for ice cream or spending time with his Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity brothers.

“The things I do are all about the people,” said the Undergraduate Assembly Vice Chair for External Affairs, who is also a Residential Advisor, a board member of the interfaith group PRISM and a member of Hillel’s board of overseers.

“When you look back at college, you’re not going to remember about the particular policies, but what you remember is going to be all about the people,” he said.

The pre-med Health and Societies major explained, he would rather pursue a career in public health than in medicine alone.

Having conducted orthopedic surgery research in an independent study, he said he’s learned he thrives around others.

Though he enjoyed the work he did, he added, “I’ll go crazy in a lab — I need that ‘people connection’ in my life.”

College sophomore Corinne Rich, a friend of Amalfitano’s who often takes classes with him, agreed that he is an extrovert.

“He is the friendliest person I’ve ever met,” she said. “The minute I first shook his hand, the warmth and exuberance was immediately apparent.”

Not only is Amalfitano able to interact well with others, but Rich said he is also able to work with them to make progress.

“He’s so able to understand where other people are coming from,” she said. “Whether it’s a personal problem or another problem, he always tries to be proactive about it.”

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.