I first visited Penn when I was nine, and decided then, in all my fourth grade wisdom, that I would never want to attend another school. Because of this extra–early decision, I never formally toured Penn, or any school for that matter. I've never been able to shake the feeling that I missed out on something in not having someone show me around. So this weekend, I decided to go on my first ever college tour, to be reintroduced to the school I already know and love.
I considered myself to be a self–taught expert on all things Penn, so while I thought the experience would be interesting, I didn’t expect to learn much. I giggled at tourists who stopped to take pictures of absolutely everything: a squirrel outside Cohen hall, a tree outside Commons, a chair in Huntsman Hall. I wasn’t sure whether or not to stop them from cuddling up with ol’ Ben Franklin on his bench, but decided to let it happen.
It was weird walking beside them, knowing what was significant and what wasn’t — or what was essentially a bathroom and what was clean to pose with — when they clearly had no idea.
As the tour went on, however, I was surprised by how much I did learn about the campus I have spent the last two years exploring. I had never heard of Ivy Day before, was always kinda confused by the whole toast thing and had never realized that Penn students actually went to football games.
The tour guide told us that College Green was the center of campus life; I had never really thought of it that way, but I guess it's true. Where else can you find such a diverse cross–section of people on campus, from all years and social circles? Also, those blue–light emergency phones… yeah, I had no idea what those were for — I could have been killed!
Walking down Locust, through the Quad, seeing the movement of campus as if I were seeing it for the first time, it all inspired me in a way I didn’t expect. I had never really known why I loved Penn… I just kind of always had. Witnessing people fall in love with it made me fall in love all over again. I can only hope my new visiting friends look back on their photos — of recycling bins, the McNeil building and Cosi — with the same kind of affection.
