As an eager prospective student, I was more than ready to take my first steps onto Locust Walk and even more ready to immerse myself in the culture I had glorified to no end. Through the millions of Penn vlogs and “day in the life” TikToks I had consumed, I practically felt like a student already. A 6 a.m. sunrise gym session, back-to-back classes, maybe even a quick Center City run, all completed on an ordinary Tuesday.
But now, as an established Penn student, I no longer acknowledge the hyperproductive routines. Instead, I recognize the display for what it is: namely, a false reality that most students don’t truly experience.
There is no doubt that Penn students juggle demanding schedules that drive much of the school’s culture. But online, that ambition becomes exaggerated into a performance. Our student body operates almost mechanically, with students taking on a million majors and minors while still finding time for several extracurriculars and social events. This level of productivity starts feeling like a baseline expectation for all students.
I get it, though. No one is racing to watch a video showcasing someone’s Friday math quiz, a 2 p.m. nap, and an unimpressive dinner at 1920 Commons. Yet, those in-between moments are the ones most students can actually recognize. Editing them out can make Penn look more impressive, but also make it feel less real.
Constantly consuming this extremely edited content can make our day-to-day lives feel slower, lonelier, and completely unproductive. You no longer look at these “Pennfluencers” and see a shared experience, but instead a reflection of your personal failures. It begins to feel like you’re not holding yourself to high standards, as if you lack the hustle that everyone else seems to possess so easily.
There are already plenty of sources where our ambition is on display. Our LinkedIn feeds overflow with Penn achievements and our club social media pages showcase members’ incredibly polished resumes. With the existing Penn Admissions Instagram page and the thousands of “takeovers” highlighted on club accounts, so much of our content is already designed to impress outsiders.
So why not try to create more space that can authentically reflect the insiders? A space where students can talk candidly about college mistakes, the club rejection that stung extra hard, or the quiet periods in between the noise. While it might sound mundane, it could be the type of content that strengthens the community within our University.
Currently, the closest thing Penn has to any sort of centralized online student community is Sidechat. But the app’s anonymity, while freeing, also emboldens our cruelty. I have heard people openly admitting to “trolling” or “ragebaiting,” even when fellow students share vulnerabilities and fears, like talking about failing a midterm. Instead of finding reassurance, you are met with sarcasm or mockery — responses designed to provoke others into unease. In some ways Sidechat feels like Instagram’s evil twin; while Sidechat amplifies negativity and cynicism, Instagram curates extreme perfection.
By no means am I suggesting a Penn-centered online community that downplays real achievements and busy schedules to appear more relatable. Rather, showing the boring in-between moments could be the answer to providing some comfort in our student body. At times a “day in the life” of many, if not most Penn students, can be exciting and truthfully busy. Yet, showing those moments of procrastination and self doubt can be exactly what Penn needs to feel more human.
Sometimes, it can seem as if everyone around you is excelling in all aspects. And while this can be motivating at times, it also creates an illusion that doesn’t speak to the majority of the student body. Documenting the inevitable bumps in the road won’t make you appear weak; it might actually spur a moment of mutual recognition through the screen. It could even serve as a reminder that behind our polished academic trajectories lies a much more complicated reality.
ALYMA KARBOWNIK is a College sophomore from Maplewood, N.J. studying international relations and environmental studies. Her email is alymak@sas.upenn.edu.
