CLASS OG 2000: Albert Shen

Pride and prejudice There's a knock at the door. Without waiting for an answer, Albert Shen's hallmate, Brad, sticks his head halfway into the room. "Are we imbibing before or after?" asks Brad, who is already dressed and ready for the Science and Technology Wing's (STWing) annual banquet. "In the middle," Albert shoots back, glancing at his watch and then down at his own jeans-and-a-T-shirt attire. "Most people have the idea that STWing is full of computer nerds," he says with a grin. "That's not really so." Originally from Colorado Springs, Colo., the Electrical Engineering major says he chose the living-learning arrangement because of its close-knit community and intellectual component -- well, okay, he also liked King's Court's big rooms. "If people are inside, their doors are always open," he explains. As to why he chose engineering? "I come from a family of engineers," Albert says, noting that his parents both work in engineering and his brother is studying for an engineering degree from Cornell. "I've always wanted to do it. [My parents] told me that engineering is a good field to be in. "And you're pretty much guaranteed a job," he adds as an afterthought. "Money's pretty important. I guess I get that from my dad -- he was forced to migrate from China to Taiwan? during the Communist takeover. "He didn't have anything and had to start off in the slums. He taught me that you have to save everything." Ten years from now, Albert sees himself "working for a circuitry company designing computer circuits, doing what I have to do, and then going home and doing what I feel I like doing." That seemed to be a common theme for 18-year-old Albert, who says his motto is: "I'm just a kid, so I might as well have fun." "[High school] just didn't compare to college life, in the freedom and the social atmosphere," says Albert. "[Penn] tends to be more relaxed than other schools I've seen." But on certain issues, Albert says his own attitude doesn't match the relaxed Penn he has come to know. "I think I'm probably a little bit racist," he offers unabashedly. "I was one of six non-whites in my high school." He says that during Penn Relays weekend, he felt "uncomfortable in that surrounding, surrounded by so many blacks." "I tend to agree with the general stereotype that blacks are more aggressive and violent," he admits. Albert tells the story of the time he was out running on campus as a "group of black guys started shouting racial slurs at me." "They said, 'Look at that yellow boy,' and told me to run faster and stuff." Albert, of Chinese descent, says he was hurt, though he doesn't really associate himself with the Asian community on campus. "I never grew up with that sort of community," he says. "It's really close-knit here, but it seems forced. It seems like, 'You're Asian and you should want to be in that group'." lbert thinks his Western lifestyle and upbringing has molded his outlook on life -- especially with regard to crime. "I'm looking forward to going home this summer so I don't have to assume that something's hiding in every shadow," he says, adding that he only knows five students in his class from the West Coast. But Albert explains that he takes precautions against becoming a victim of crime, leaving his credit cards and cash at home when he goes out at night. "I wouldn't mind being mugged," he offers honestly. "I think it would be an interesting learning experience. It would be something new." Albert characterizes himself as someone who is always looking to try out new things, especially sports -- from mountain biking to skiing, hiking and running. He played on the Ultimate Frisbee team in the beginning of this year, though the practices conflicted with his classes. Next year, he plans to join the Penn Cycling Club. Albert says his friends tell him he is "perpetually happy," especially when spending quality time with his girlfriend of six months, Mukta, who lives on his hall (she called in the middle of the interview and he spoke in whispers for a few minutes before promising to stop by soon). In other ways, though, Albert says he is quite cynical -- for example, politics. "I guess I'd be a Democrat, but I haven't really thought about it," he offers. "I never felt that I ever had the opportunity to do anything about it." n

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