Amara Rockar: Welcome to Penn

For anxious incoming students getting ready for life at Penn, there's the DP's annual "New Students" issue packed with information and advice. The Editorial Page always has that column about living with a roommate -- the one where the author secretly read The Satanic Verses his freshman year-and another column that usually has additional advice about making the most of Penn. But there are some new students already on campus are without the helpful advice of the special issue. Last weekend about two hundred high school students arrived on Penn's campus for the beginning of this summer's Pre-College Program. It makes me feel really old to say it, but I was a pre-college student four summers ago. I can say from that wide-eyed experience that while some aspects of the "New Student Issue" would be helpful to those in the Pre-College Program, there's a lot that just would never apply. Although students take college classes with undergraduates, on the whole the program is not the same as college and it's not even really pre-college; high school is pre-college. It's more like "almost college." The students are almost unsupervised, they have almost no curfew, and they have almost absolute freedom. So here is some information and advice for all those "almost college" students. First, familiarize yourself with University City and don't be afraid to go past 40th Street. When I was here as a high school student, I remember getting slushies from a 7-Eleven in a "bad area" and feeling like a complete badass. Of course, that 7-Eleven is now the one I go to all the time since it's only a block and a half from the newspaper office. Obviously, I'm not saying it's okay to run willy-nilly around University City. It's always important to be smart about safety when living in an urban environment. But I think it's too easy to plant yourself on Penn's campus and really miss out on everything that's out there. Which brings me to my next point: explore Philadelphia. Taking a taxi once to South Street and buying penis pasta at Condom Kingdom doesn't count - everyone does that. There's more to Philadelphia than the most well-known and obvious areas. Even though the excursions organized by the program sometimes feel like weird grade-school field trips, they're definitely worth going on. In fact, one such trip introduced me to what is now my favorite place to visit, the Mutter Museum. Back on Penn's campus, there's a couple things you should know about classes here. It's best to shop around and pick out the classes with the best professors. Often things depend less on the subject matter and more on the lecturer. A good lecturer can make a class on rocks or ancient Greece fascinating, while a bad lecturer can make a class about the 1960s mind-numbingly boring. If the class you just started this week seems to be not so great, find another one and get out. Otherwise you'll spend the rest of the summer kicking yourself for staying while hearing about how interesting your friends' classes are. Finally, if you feel that you have something important to say, don't hesitate to send a letter or column my way. I'll be happy to take a look. Enjoy your time here and have a great summer. Amara Rockar is a senior political science major from St. Louis. Her email address is arockar@sas.upenn.edu. She is the editorial page editor of The Summer Pennsylvanian.

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