Mentorship is the reason that I got into Penn. As someone with limited resources, there have been a large number of people who have given some form of time to help me. Which is why, when I arrived in Penn, fully culture-shocked by having to relearn vocabulary in a place where seemingly everyone has started before you (either by sheer effort or plain nepotism), one piece of vocabulary fortunately sounded all too familiar to me: “bigs” and “littles.”
Those two words, with their own variations depending on club or community, demonstrate the amazing mentorship and networking culture here at Penn and the potential of these relationships to produce so many amazing things. Ask around, and an average freshman can count more than four mentors in their roster, with connections ranging from college housing to research and clubs. The University supports these relationships by having alumni and other members of the Penn community mentor students as well. But perhaps why the Class of 2029 is abuzz for these mentorships isn’t exactly because of the possibility of friendship, but the possibility for a club acceptance or an internship.
I mean, that’s what mentorships are for, right? Mentors serve as monuments to what a Penn education can bring, and having just the right mentor can get you into many places, everywhere, all at the same time. I’ve heard more than once of bigs getting their littles into clubs, meetings with professors, and even free tickets to sports games.
So then why are we content with mentorships giving us the network of a lifetime, when they can give us a community of a lifetime as well? For some, many mentorship schemes simply aren’t designed to go further than that level of relationship. Especially in research or preprofessional settings, where bigs and littles are decided by professional interests, it can be hard to propel these dynamics into something more personal. Other than that, a person’s sheer number of mentors can be disorienting, and for a first-year class, where everything is new, exciting, tiring, and daunting all at the same time, making friends can feel artificial and forced.
But with all the smoke and mirrors, we must realize that mentorships can be so much more. Penn mentorships, and in this case, bigs and littles, offer the same pedagogical experience as any class but in a more intimate and technically more helpful setting. Take a big-little relationship at a cultural club, for example. These relationships do more than just getting you a friend to talk to and go to Kiwi Yogurt or Wawa with; they give you a person you cook hometown food with or go on spontaneous trips to find the best food in your culture with.
In the grand scheme of things, relationships are what you make of them. But in the long and truly arduous quest to bag that consulting job or get into medical school, getting your consulting-club big to be something more than just a mentor might be just what you need.
And so, to the Class of 2029, once you get back on your feet, settle onto your routine or start to participate in club activities regularly, consider reaching out to the people you did a coffee chat with, or emailing a thank-you note to your PHINS leaders and peer advisors. Go beyond those coffee chats, and make the connections that transcend LinkedIn or Handshake. Because, even in a school of sellouts, one can still find the community of a lifetime.
ADY LOTIVIO is a College first year from Bicol, Philippines studying earth and environmental science. His email is jlotivio@sas.upenn.edu.
SEE MORE FROM ADY LOTIVIO:
