Frosh forced to make new friends in tragedy

When College freshman Kate Winterkorn heard the later-debunked rumor that a car bomb had exploded outside the State Department, right near where her mother works, she felt utterly alone.

"It was a very isolating experience," Winterkorn said. "A lot of it was for me... very lonely."

The Class of 2005 arrived less than two weeks ago and many lack the core groups of friends that upperclassmen have formed during their years at Penn.

"You didn't feel like there was anyone to hug," the Washington native said.

"Freshmen are dealing with everything that's new," Counselling and Psychological Services psychologist Margaret Fichter said. They "don't have a strong support network."

Many freshmen who would have returned home to the comfort of their families live in the very areas that were attacked on Tuesday. The halt of all modes of transportation added to the first-year students' isolation.

But for some members of the Class of 2005, coping with the tragedy together was a unifying experience.

"I think everyone here was really sensitive," Wharton freshman James Powers said. "It's not like I didn't have anyone by me."

"People were good about being there for each other yesterday," Wharton freshman Archana Lakshman said.

Winterkorn, who arrived early to the vigil last night on College Green, began to feel strong ties with her new school at that very moment.

"It was the first time that I really felt [Penn] was one community," she said.

"The tragedy probably united us as freshmen together," College freshman Tripp Kise said.

Some students also praised the support staff in the college houses.

"I was very impressed by the quick response of my residential advisor," College freshman Jonathan Mervis said.

Others around the Quadrangle, where the majority of Penn's roughly 2,400 freshmen live, felt comforted by their peers.

"I was just so amazed," Engineering freshman Chris Dziubek said, that Penn "came screeching to a halt."

After their first few weeks of college, the Class of 2005 has experienced something different from any freshman class before it.

"Everyone was just caught up in the fear," Winterkorn said.

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