Before coming to Penn this semester, Nicolas Luna was worried about the "hard American life," as he calls it - working hard, studying hard, partying hard.
But Luna, an exchange student from Argentina, had one thing to ease his transition - a Penn student to show him the ropes of Philadelphia.
Luna was matched up with College junior Kimie Bunya, who is one of a growing number of Penn students involved in Penn International Partners, a program that helps exchange students get acclimated to college life in the United States.
This year, almost 170 Penn students, each of whom is matched up with an exchange student, have taken part in the program, the highest total since it launched in 2002.
Luna, who is enrolled in Wharton this year, said plunging into the semester had its definite challenges.
He had never been graded against other students on a curve and said he found the competitiveness of Penn students to be intimidating.
"You ask yourself if you will be able to handle it," he said. "It's one of the best universities in the world, and you ask yourself if you will have the ability or the knowledge to get through it."
Having a friend who already knew the ins and outs of Penn life, he said, boosted his confidence.
"It's very good because perhaps you arrive here [and] you don't know anybody," Luna said. "It's nice to see that somebody's caring for you."
And while the primary focus of the program is to help exchange students cope with culture shock, PIP can be just as rewarding for the Penn mentors.
The students involved in the program are just returning from a semester abroad, and knowing a foreign student from the country where they studied can help them cope with a culture shock of their own - that of returning to Philadelphia.
"Coming back from abroad, we're crash coursing at Penn," said Engineering junior Lizzie Ramos, who spent a semester in Australia in the fall.
In addition to a greater workload, Ramos said, it is sometimes hard to connect with friends who haven't ventured abroad.
"You can talk about your experiences, . but it's not the same as someone who knows what you're talking about when it comes to Australia," she said.
Through PIP, College junior Allison Wu met an exchange student from Buenos Aires, where she studied last semester. Their first meeting in January has led to a close friendship, and Wu now hangs out with the student and other Argentines at Penn on a regular basis.
"When we hang out, we talk about a lot of things unique to Buenos Aires," she said, adding that, after spending five months with Argentine college students, "I get their jokes."
Wu met her exchange student the first week of this semester, and the two have since gone to Philadelphia restaurants with other Penn students and Argentine exchanges.
Some students, however, say their match was less than ideal.
College junior Jon Pruchansky, who studied abroad in Sweden, was paired with a 24-year-old student from Germany; Pruchansky said the age difference and their inability to find things in common prevented the friendship from blossoming.
But taking a chance, said PIP director Marcia Henisz, is in the nature of the program.
"It's kind of like a freshman roommate," she said. "There might be a hit, there might not."
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