Class of 2009 president shares goals, hobbies, stories

Last week, the Nominations and Elections Committee announced Wharton freshman Jonathan Hefter as the new Class of 2009 president. Between taking salsa dancing lessons, classes and organizing class-wide events, Hefter has his hands full. Nevertheless, he made time to sit down with The Daily Pennsylvanian.

The Daily Pennsylvanian: Why did you want to be class president?

Jonathan Hefter: When I came here I was very excited and I really wanted to take an active role in making it enjoyable for everyone.

DP: What do you hope to accomplish this year?

JH: By the end of this year ... I'd like a lot of our events and activities to come to everyone's mind as "Wow, that really helped shaped my experience. That made this year special."

DP: How do you like working with your fellow student government members?

JH: They're great, I couldn't be happier ... as soon as we agree to set our sites on any single project, everybody just goes at it with so much tenacity. It's really a pleasure working with them.

DP: What are some of the class board's future plans?

JH: Most obviously, homecoming, which is a big thing for everyone. We really want to try to make everyone's first homecoming special. We are working with the other classes to arrange some joint events.

DP: How do you feel about being class president so far?

JH: I had a really funny experience two nights ago with Econ Scream, where two hours before the event I was ... typing a message to my board about what everyone should be doing ... Instead of typing my board listserve I typed the class listserve and I clicked send. I'm walking out of my room and I just freeze and run out to my computer and think "Oh no!" At first I felt like a complete moron for such a mistake but the awesome thing was that members of the class were emailing me back with random fun messages ... Just like "Hey dude, I remember when you were collecting signatures and we were chasing that spider through the lounge," or "I can't wait to see you at the scream."

DP: How do you feel about being the president of the Class of 2009, even though it's so big?

JH: I don't know why, but I feel like this year, more than most years, people feel very connected, with the whole "Fine '09" thing, the phrase, the mentality of it ... so far people are really enthusiastic to just be at an event as the Class of '09 ... we find a lot of people are excited to identify with that. At the Econ Scream we got over 100 people, which is more than double most years ... Two days ago there was a guy practicing bagpipes on junior balcony. And I went up to him, and I said "Hey man, what's your name and your number, and would you play at one of our events?" We just have a world of talent at our fingertips, and it's really like a class building off itself.

DP: What are you majoring in?

JH: I don't know what I'm majoring in yet, but I definitely want to meet people, places, experiences ... Right now I'm just trying to take a lot of different classes in different fields to see what I enjoy.

DP: Do you know what you want to do after college?

JH: I have not a clue, I guess my plan for college is not to study how to do something, but rather to educate myself to a point where whatever I choose to do I'm able to.

DP: What do you like to do for fun, what are your hobbies?

JH: I'm always up for new experiences. I definitely like to travel, sometimes after working for a summer I'll have enough for a nice trip... I just got back from a wonderful experience last year. I finished high school in 2004 so last year I was actually in the West Bank studying. But also I guess the chief experience there was that I was an EMT on a mobile intensive care unit ... it was such an amazing experience, whether running in and treating people ... or hanging out at a cafe in Abu Ghosh.

DP: What's been your favorite weekend here at Penn so far?

JH: So far I definitely loved Penn Quest ... getting together with kids that you'd be with for the next four years, going into woods for three days ... it was an amazing way to kick off my experience here ... I'm also taking salsa classes at the Pottruck Center every Wednesday night. I'm also just looking into what I really want to dedicate my time to because there's so much available to do ... I wanted to be involved in a social volunteering or social consciousness group, and I'm thinking about alternate spring break. My only regret about college is that there are only 24 hours in a day.

DP: What are your plans for Fall Break?

JH: This is going to sound so sad, but I'm really not a sad case. I'm going to be staying here most of the time, and just organizing my life, so much is happening so fast that having three days to just stop, breathe and just unwind will really help me come back on Wednesday refreshed and ready for more battle.

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