Class of 2012

Student highlight as featured in the Undergraduate Newsletter, Winter 2011 issue. Want to learn more about the University of Pennsylvania? Read the university highlight available here.

10 AM. History class. I take my laptop and prepare to resist all temptation to use Facebook and E-mail and instead take notes and listen. It’s not hard; the lectures are so interesting!

12 PM. Lunch with one of my professors. Isn’t it great that the university pays for you to have lunch and learn a lot about an interesting professor you admire?

1 PM. Time for some studying!

3 PM. Statistics class. This one is a biggie. 3-hour long, and really challenging!

6 PM. Dinner, then a fun dance practice with my fellow team members.

9 PM. Home from dance. Dealing with administrative duties for the two clubs I’m president of.

10 PM. Going to the library to start cracking that tough statistics problem set.

12:30 AM. ZZZZzzzzz...

This is a snapshot of what my typical day looks like. Replace the first gym session with more studying and you have a version of my mid-term season days. Life at an Ivy League is exhausting, but incredibly exciting. I started out without any Olympiad performances or special talents. I was a jack of all trades. While I was at the Goethe German School in Bucharest, I knew quite a few languages and was doing my best to find a passion to really pursue. I had done lots of swimming, lots of skiing, played bridge competitively, taken a shot at Cisco certifications, won debate competitions, and opened the first student club in my school. I was definitely active and engaged, but no competition for the people who had won Chemistry and Physics competitions abroad (like my current roommate, also Romanian). So, the Ivy League was out of reach for me, or so I thought.

Yet, in junior year I found out about the Harvard Summer School program. Eager for a taste of college life in the US without any risks, I jumped at the opportunity, fundraised across my family, and packed my bags. In Boston I had a great experience, won a best friend for life, and got to feel the thrill of college freedom as well as the sting of all-nighters. Having survived it, I returned home with a clear decision: I wanted to go to an Ivy League university. I fended all laughs and questions about how I could get in without any medals in international Olympiads and went to Fulbright. There, I got some great advice and studied hard to ace the SAT. With some not-too-shabby essays to go along with that, I proved all doubting voices wrong.

At first insecure, I ended up having a great experience at Penn. I got to have Thanksgiving dinner with my admissions officer, be the main coordinator for the International Orientation Week, get an academic recognition scholarship, and make a ton of great friends.

For the past two and a half years (I am a junior now) I have been taking amazing courses both in my majors and outside of them. I’m majoring in Psychology and Economics, with a minor in Statistics. I’m undertaking two research projects on my own, with different famous psychology professors for my majors, and taking honors classes that make my brain smoke. Outside of my majors I have had the opportunity to do the work of a real consultant for a local business for an entire semester, as well as consult for Microsoft in another semester. On top of that, I am a competitive ballroom dancer, as well as the president of the ballroom team and president-elect of Psi Chi, the international honor psychology society.

Had anyone showed me a snapshot of my representative day and current situation when I was in high school, I probably would have laughed at them. But, going to Penn helped me reach heights I never thought I could. The unique combination of amazing classes, great professors, endless opportunities, and most of all great people is what defines Penn as one of the best universities in the world. With the continued support system that Penn encourages, I know that I will be involved with the university not just now, but throughout my entire life. I am a part of Penn, and Penn is a part of me.

Looking back, this was the best choice I could have made. With its support network and its way to encourage people to develop as academics, professionals, and human beings, Penn prepares you for success. The most important lesson I have learned at Penn is to never compare myself to others. No matter how good you think you are, you will always find someone better on this campus. Instead of trying to fight them, let them inspire you and become your friends; admire and appreciate everyone else for their success, then look ahead and aim for your own. There’s enough space for everyone to be successful in their own way.