JY_Lee

Although I am ultimately responsible for my missteps, I also blame my socialization into the Greek Scene and Penn’s ethos of “work hard, play hard.” Locust Walk is like the Autobahn, a highway without speed limits.

I joined a Buddhist ashram in India, worshipped with Jews in Jerusalem and devoured agnostic and atheistic literature. Like the prodigal son, however, I always returned home to church.

With Thanksgiving as our ultimate feast of gratitude, here’s a toast to all my professors who have nurtured my inchoate mind.

Wharton alums have set several world records during my time here. In addition to the Forbes’ net-worth list, our alums also top the list of largest frauds.

I came to Penn aspiring to be just that: an academic, entrepreneur or travel writer. I now find myself in consulting interviews, reciting how my education and internship experience in journalism have prepared me for business strategy.

While I celebrate our entrepreneurial energy as vibrant evidence that the American Dream is alive, profit-driven startups should be balanced by social enterprises guided by the public good.

Every year that I have been at Penn, I have been chilled by the premature deaths in our University community.

Although we fear staying in college for more than four years and falling behind, I invite you to consider taking a gap year and time out for yourself.

So here’s a toast to all the people, places, institutions and cultures that have contributed to my metamorphosis over the last four years.

Ignorant historians in the future will label us as the hipster generation — whether we like it or not.