Before landing in America, I thought I would be able to quickly form friendships at Penn, just like I did back in my university, and have a memorable, if not a little hectic, few months before flying back to normalcy. I just didn’t count on Penn being too busy for me.
When you think about why you’re upset about something, the bigger picture comes into play.
But as I come to the end of my college career, I’m hesitant to allow my perception of the past four years to be colored so negatively.
An independent bookstore like the Penn Book Center is central to the preservation and continuation of culture. Its book-stocking decisions are local and responsive, not centralized or top-down like those of a corporate chain.
The independent Penn Book Center has always been and still remains stocked with both books and booksellers possessing the potential to surprise a reader.
I just wish I had come here once these issues were addressed.
I just wish I had come here once these issues were addressed.
When you think about why you’re upset about something, the bigger picture comes into play.
But as I come to the end of my college career, I’m hesitant to allow my perception of the past four years to be colored so negatively.
I can’t live my life thinking that I’ll soon die. At a certain point I’m willing to suspend disbelief: to let myself think I have the capacity to live a healthy and ordinary — maybe, even, an extraordinary — life.
The DP taught me how deeply fulfilling it can be to devote yourself to something important, even without the dangling carrot of external validation from grades and other “objective” measures of success we obsess over on this campus.
Now though, for what feels like the first time, I’m not dragging my feet. I’m ready, heck, I’m excited to move on because I feel like I took a mighty swing at this college thing.
As much as The Daily Pennsylvanian Editorial Board believes our Quaker peers are the brightest in the Ivy League, we don’t think we’re that much smarter, and we’d appreciate some more time off.
The process of reflecting was valuable in that it was a cognizant deliberation and analysis of my mentality and actions. It helped me break out of habit and identity my faults, my ways of responding to situations, and the methods I can take to improve my lifestyle. It also helped raise self-acceptance as I pinpointed victories that I’ve achieved through hard work and compassion.
I will always have to choose between pursuing my passions in the United States of America and being with my family. If I choose one, I can’t have the other.
Students should know of every advantage Penn’s financial aid offers in order to allow them the same access as Penn students not on financial aid.
We understand our diversity initiatives require dedication from student leadership as well as openness to criticism and suggestions from the wider Penn community. We want to hear from you about how we can continue to make the DP a more inclusive and diverse place.
VERONICA FENTON is a College sophomore from Penn Valley, Pa. Her email address is fentonv@sas.upenn.edu.
Independent student journalism is crucial both for the campus communities student journalists cover and for the media industry at large.
If they allow the PBC to close down in the next month, this would send a pointed message to undergraduates across countless departments that our academic passions must take a backseat to profit.
The truth of the matter, and what some are so quick to overlook, as they are blindsided by their activist ambitions, is that having the ability to volunteer or take on an unpaid internship exudes extreme privilege.
We could live incredibly sustainable lives. But we don’t.
Restorative justice requires administrative action too, and alone isn't enough to solve a problem of this gravity.
Solutions by The State News
