CLASS OF 2000: Roselynn Alibutod

City SlickerCity Slicker"I'm a part of a whole new beginning." When Roselynn Alibutod was in 8th grade, a medical problem kept her in the hospital for a full week. During that time, the nurses "took the time to be nice to me, to make me comfortable," she explains. "I want to be there for somebody like they were there for me," Roselynn says gently, explaining her decision to become a nurse practitioner. "I want to tend to their emotional needs too, I don't want to just diagnose their illness and prescribe a cure." To fulfill that dream, the 18-year-old Jamaica Estates (that's Queens), N.Y., native decided to follow her sister to Penn's top-ranked Nursing school. As a Hillman Scholar, she will be required to travel back and forth from New York City senior year for nursing clinicals, followed by two years of work at a New York hospital. "I always wanted to be a doctor when I was little -- I guess for the prestige, it was looked upon better. But my aunt's a doctor and she doesn't spend as much time with her family as I want to be able to." Roselynn's "huge" extended family is close-knit, and spends time together nearly every other week. "My biggest fear is not raising my kids the way my parents raised me. Although my mom doesn't believe it, I listen to pretty much everything she says." "First semester, I was really homesick and I went home every three weeks," she says. "Then I realized that being here at Penn, it's not [my parents] standing over me. It's pretty much me." But Roselynn's Catholic values and Filipino culture still play an important role in her life. Since the 6th grade, she has rarely been without her protective scapular around her neck (a necklace with two charms depicting religious scenes). She has also joined the Penn Phillipine Association, a reminder of the culture in which her parents grew up. Still, it took Roselynn several months to feel comfortable in her new setting, though she still contends Philly is "nothing compared to New York." "[Philadelphia] closes so early. In New York, you can do anything at any time all hours. I actually feel a whole lot safer in New York, too, but that's probably because I'm more comfortable there," she says. "Most of my friends here weren't from cities. It's funny how they react to thinking they're in such a big city." Those friends, many of whom live with her in English House, hold an important place in Roselynn's Penn life. How would they describe her? "As really random. Sometimes they don't know where I come up with things," Roselynn explains, citing, as an example, her an irrational fear of birds. "I'll be walking down Locust Walk and if there's a bird, I'll move out of the way. When I was little a bird flew into a wall and then landed in my lap and died. Now everyone teases me. They'll put crumbs near me just to see me freak out." Friends might also say Roselynn's love for travel and dancing distinguish her from her peers. But Roselynn sees herself as just one part of a whole at Penn. "I don't know if anyone will remember anything my classmates, as individuals, will do here. But it's like, wow -- I graduated in the 21st century and I'm a part of a whole new beginning." n

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.