Rohana Gullapalli (C ’25, W ’25) sits with me in Perry World House in her running shoes. Even though she is busy serving on the board of large campus groups such as AIS, she makes time to test her new limits and go out of her comfort zone by running half–marathons, and getting her scuba diving license while balancing her dual degree.
Unbeknownst to many incoming Quakers, she is one of the figures who shape international students' experience on campus. You have probably heard of Penn Global Mosaic (PGM)—the pre–orientation program that unites domestic and overseas students. Rohana is one of the people behind creating and introducing PGM and many other initiatives that unite the outside world and the U.S.
Name: Rohana Gullapalli
Hometown: Gaborone, Botswana
Major: Neuroscience (CAS), Statistics and Data Science (Wharton)
Minor: Chemistry
Activities: AIS, Penn FIMRC, Research Assistant, Mountaineering, Wildlife Photography
How has AIS shaped your identity since the beginning of college?
AIS was a very important place for me because it helped me find a lot of my close friends. But it also made me feel like I belong in the community in a way that I could give back and also find people that I relate to. I believe that every international student has their own unique experience, and it is very different from another person's. From my experience, for example, I struggled a lot with the professional aspect of life during freshman year: I did not know how to make my resume or what recruiting was like. When I joined AIS, I joined A&E (Alumni & Employment) as a committee to address this gap. Eventually, that became the committee I later co–chaired, and then I was the Executive Vice President of AIS. Still, my focus was very professional, i.e., on a career speaker series. Before I joined, as far as I remember, it was only finance, so we decided to expand it to more options: healthcare, cinema, engineering, and PhDs. It was centered around giving more opportunities to freshmen. AIS made me feel at home because I have people to whom I relate and people I am helping. It made Penn a very nice and great place to be.
What was your first encounter with AIS?
It was very random, maybe because there were still semi–COVID conditions. When I first came to Penn, I did not want to associate with a specific identity of being international. I pushed myself away from all the international stuff during my first semester. Yet, at the beginning of the spring semester of freshman year, I found AIS on the Penn Clubs website. I applied because it seemed interesting. After passing the interview, my first official experience was in the Radian lounge, where we used to host events back then. There was Alex (Alex Krastev, the recent president of AIS as of April 2025) in a suit, and the rest of us were waiting for someone to come and get our elevators sorted out. To get upstairs, you needed your card to scan up, so we were just standing there waiting. Alex came up and started talking to me, just casually asking questions, being really friendly. I do not think he remembered my name for the first six months, but still, I felt welcomed. There were other people around, too—Angela, Emma, Heather (past AIS members)—and they were all so sweet. They wanted to know where I was from, what I was doing, and it just felt that people cared. Everyone could relate to these little shared struggles like figuring out British English versus American English or not being able to find the food you liked. I think that is what made it so easy to join and become a part of AIS—it just clicked.
Why did you decide to embrace your “internationality”, even though you were resistant to it initially?
I do not know whether I “embraced” it or not. I was always proud to be an international student, but I also did not want to be stereotyped as just an international. I did not want that to be my only community. But in the end, I think it became more about me wanting to help others who did not have as smooth of a transition as I did. I really believe I had an easier transition than a lot of other international students, and I was lucky for that. I am not even sure why; maybe I just put myself out there more. I know some people thought I was crazy for doing PennQuest, but honestly, I think that helped a lot. Still, I saw how many freshmen struggled, and that is why I helped to develop PGM. I actually created the curriculum for it. There were already some discussions happening around that time, and I became a strong proponent of it. I felt that international students needed something in between home and jumping straight into the deep end of Penn. They needed a transition period. So I pushed for PGM and developed the curriculum for it because not everyone wants to do PennQuest; not everyone is crazy like me. But still, people wanted a different thing, and it was missing. So, it started with the following ideas: How can I help make this experience easier for others? I think that is what really drew me to AIS, as well as the community. Not only was I given the platform to help people, but everybody supported me when I was doing that, and they encouraged me. I feel that everybody in admin was really welcoming to collaborate on how to improve. This is why I stayed.
What does the Penn Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children serve? What made you join it?
It is a chapter of a global organization. They have camps across the world where they provide medical services to children in really rural areas. Most of these camps are underfunded. The main part of this organization was to raise awareness: “Hey, these are the problems that children are facing across the world, and these are the issues with medical policies or the medical structures.” Sometimes, we talk to the doctors who are working there or the site organizations, and they will explain to us their problems, i.e, a woman was pregnant, and there was no ambulance, so they had to strap a cart to a bike and transport her to the campsite to deliver the baby. The other part of the foundation was to raise funding. For the organization, every dollar counts. We did that through candy grams, sticker sales, normal fundraising, like boba sales, and different types of events throughout the year. Lastly, I think there is a part that is specific to us as the Penn chapter, rather than the international organization, which was interacting with the West Philly community and trying to make the community around us better and not generally the world. We used to volunteer with schools in West Philly. One of our favorite events that the people before us created and that we are very proud of is a Halloween event that we organize for schools in West Philly. They are often underfunded and do not have the opportunity to do that, so we get together with different organizations, including the Undergraduate Assembly, the School of Dental Medicine, and other student groups. We set up tables and booths, each with a different theme, and the kids can go around, play games, take photos, and get candy. It is very rewarding because it is always nice to be able to help other people. I also think that is a huge benefit of being at Penn: we are so privileged to have the opportunities we have, and I think it is really important to be able to use our resources to make a difference in other people’s lives.
What are your main insights from uniting Neuroscience & Statistics?
Firstly, they are still different subjects, but at the essence of it, Neuroscience and Statistics are about curiosity. That is something I pride myself on: I have always said I am a lifelong learner. In addition, all of these sciences, in the end, come down to very small logic and operations. Everything is built around a model—be it neuroscience or sports, or the brain. You can break everything down into an analog. If you go really, really, really low, everything is a smaller version of a system. I personally just find it interesting to learn that really complex stuff. Be it statistics, where you’ve got black box AIs, or the human brain—everything can be simplified a lot. Still, there is still so much we do not know that needs to be figured out, that can be done, that can still be explored. In the end, I do not know what is found in common between neuro & stats. They are very different, and that is why I enjoy it: it gets different parts of my brain going.
What is one thing that brings you joy?
Trying new things, exploring, being adventurous—that is something I really enjoy. I feel that if you are always in your comfort zone, you never grow. Sometimes, you may not enjoy the things you try, and that is fine. You learn from experience. But what is the point of living if you are just doing the same boring things every day? It is better to try new things and grow as a person. That is what I love. For example, recently, in the last month, I got my scuba certification, which was a big item on my bucket list. Another was running. That was particularly huge for me because I hated running in high school. I still do not love it, but I am starting to enjoy it more. Back then, I could not run more than 400 meters, I could barely finish that. So I ran the Philly Love Run, the half–marathon. That was a really big deal for me as someone who had never done anything like that in my life. But I have realized that the more I do it, the more I enjoy it. I am pushing myself, and I have come to understand that running is one of those few things that challenge you both physically and mentally. It pushes you in both ways. This year, one of my biggest personal goals, alongside my professional and academic goals, has been to become a fitter version of myself. It has been really fun working toward that.
Lightning round:
Favourite running route at Penn? Schuylkill trail.
Best place to chill on campus? Paris Baguette.
Favourite international dish? Currently, poke bowls, but it changes frequently.
Spirit animal? Elephants.
There are two types of people at Penn? PennQuesters and non–PennQuesters.
And you are… Definitely a PennQuester.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Do you know that one senior who brings a smile to everyone’s face or always has the craaaziest stories? It’s time to give them the recognition they deserve. Ego of the Week seeks to showcase seniors not for their grades or any other academic construct but for who they are as people and the joy they bring to the people around them! Nominate your favorite Penn seniors for Ego of the Week!
