Every Penn student is here to learn. Whether it was the beautiful libraries, interdisciplinary majors, or renowned professors that caught our eyes, we all chose Penn to further our education. But in a constantly changing and new environment, sometimes it’s not what we learn that changes us; it’s what we unlearn.
In high school, every essay I wrote was argumentative. Writing was about providing a thesis that backed my stance. So when I sat through my first writing seminar and heard the words “white paper,” I was a little taken aback. Turns out preprofessionalism means a lot more than just joining a consulting club. Penn’s writing seminars are one of the first curricular oddities first-year students encounter. College first year Aashi Bhandari, who is currently taking a writing seminar, explained that “compared to high school classes, Penn’s writing seminars are significantly more intensive and require a deeper analysis on who you are writing to and why. In turn, they challenge students to critically understand their writing’s purpose and audience.” It’s the first time you’re not writing for a teacher; you’re practicing how to write for a company. Learning this skill requires unlearning how to write argumentatively — and that’s just the beginning.
Midterms are the next milestone, when every first year realizes they have been studying wrong their entire life. Suddenly, staying up the night before and cramming doesn’t work as well as it did before. Penn is more about fostering a learning environment, not just passing tests, which means studying is more of a constant process. Unlearning old study habits is time consuming, but not as time consuming as retaking an intro-level course.
The final academic hill that’s not worth dying on at Penn is the biggest. During high school, your grades were primarily based on one factor: memorization. How many dates can you remember? Can you recite the periodic table of elements? What was the name of James Madison’s childhood pet? But at Penn, it’s not so much about regurgitation as it is about innovation and application. Classes at Penn are more than just what you can remember — it’s what you can create. If given a problem, classes want to see students who can make a solution, not just rename old ones. In order to succeed, you have to unlearn what learning is all about.
But Penn isn’t just about academics — it’s also about creating new relationships. After all, Penn is called the ‘social Ivy’ for a reason. Move-in day is a new student’s first introduction to a world of social unlearning: dorm life. You may have shared a room with a sibling, but probably not with a stranger. Now, after 18 years with some degree of personal space, your quarters are close enough that you can fall asleep holding hands with your roommate. Unlearning your own lifestyle — cleaning, personal hygiene, boundaries, and giving constant consideration — is key to socializing at Penn.
Outside the dorm, it’s a big world, but what’s most surprising is all the small things you have to unlearn. Specific customs and social norms, like smiling at everyone you see, won’t be the same here as they were in your hometown. In order to push yourself out of your comfort zone, you have to forget the idea that every place is the same. College first year Amin Yarahmadi, an international student, spoke about his experience in unlearning social norms, saying, “Back in Iran, it’s customary when very close people meet [to] do three kisses on the cheek. … I once did a simple kiss on one of my friends [at Penn], and he was freaking out about it.” At Penn, relationships and socialization present themselves differently than most of us have ever seen, which means we’ll have to unlearn what we have always been comfortable with.
Whether it’s academically or socially, there’s a lot to take in when you arrive at Penn. It’s an entirely different world than we’ve ever experienced. While you may be overtaken by all there is to learn, take notice of the things you’re simultaneously letting go of. Over the next four years, everything about you will change and grow, and as important as it is to learn at Penn, it’s equally important to unlearn as well.
CHARLOTTE PULICA is a College first year from Enoch, Utah studying criminology and economics. Her email is cpulica1@sas.upenn.edu.
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