Freshman footsteps | 'Just so perfect' start to the year

Upon arriving at Penn, Nursing freshman Kerry McLaughlin admitted that she might be a little out of her element.

From her small upstate New York hometown, described by her mother as "pretty waspy," to her all-girls Catholic high-school, McLaughlin worried that her background might make the transition less than easy.

But in spite of her list of concerns, it didn't take long for this smiling red head to find her niche - and new home - on Penn's campus.

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On the Tuesday before orientation, McLaughlin arrived with her whole family in tow: mother, father, little brother and two grandparents all crowded into her Kings Court English College House double room.

"I'm very close to my family - my extended family," she explained, gesturing at the crew assembled.

"Plus, I ended up needing the two trucks for all of my stuff."

In fact, McLaughlin said she packed twice for the occasion. After boxing everything up the first time, she realized she had over packed - by a lot.

"It just didn't register that I'd have to share a room," she laughed. "I've always had my own."

Being the first of the two roommates to arrive, Kelly opted for the bed closest to the floor-to-ceiling windows but diplomatically planned to move beds if her roommate - a fellow nurse whom she met last spring at Penn Previews - wanted to switch.

After settling in, the group took a break from unpacking to grab lunch. After deciding on the nearby Cosi, McLaughlin joked she would have to drag her father away from the bookstore, and all the Penn paraphernalia for sale.

He shrugged, smiled, and left the room. "My dad never got to go to college so he's just really excited for me - especially since I'm here at Penn," she explained, beaming.

And it means a lot for both father and daughter that McLaughlin came to Penn for its Nursing School and to pursue her dream of working in health care.

Starting at 13, McLaughlin volunteered at a nursing home run by her rather in Rochester, N.Y. - an experience that, she described, "really inspired [her] to go into health care."

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But as one family dropped her off, McLaughlin was only welcomed into another.

From the Newman Center retreat she attended in the days leading up to NSO, to a set of tight-knit hallmates and fellow nurses, McLaughlin has surrounded herself with a new kind of extended family.

"I expected to have a decent time," she said, describing what she thought the three-day Newman Center Freshmen Retreat, held on-campus before the start of NSO, would be like. "It sounded like a good way to get my foot in the door and make friends."

What she didn't realize was that this retreat would provide her with an amazing experience, allowing her to "know the campus and a group of really great people before anyone else had even arrived on campus."

In the few days leading up to NSO, McLaughlin bonded with the other students in the program, volunteered at a women's shelter for victims of sex trafficking and discovered an on-campus support system before most students had even moved in.

"It was a good way to really focus in and start my college experience," she said.

That confidence overflowed into the early days of NSO, as McLaughlin quickly made friends both in the Nursing School and among the rest of her hall.

"It's nice to have a little family," she joked. "I'll be walking around with my hall and we'll see a nurse or a "Newman" and my hallmates will just ask how I know so many people. Suddenly, all of my fears of not making friends are gone."

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McLaughlin seems to reach out not just to everyone - but also to everything.

Even before attending last weeks career fair, she had her own list of activities she intended to pursue - a list that ranged from Student Nurses at Penn to intramural badminton or volleyball to playing the piano at church.

And even though she laughs that she'll "probably be a minority on campus when it comes to it," she plans on joining the Penn Republicans to fulfill her passion for politics and for political debate.

After attending her first few classes, McLaughlin said she was intrigued by several of her professors and the unique perspectives they brought to each of her subjects.

In particular, she enjoyed the novelty of a sSciology course, describing it as "something new that I've never learned before."

Despite a full plate of courses - including two introductory nursing courses, Spanish and the writing seminar "Stumbling Toward Adulthood" - McLaughlin couldn't be more enthusiastic about the start to her semester.

She gets along with her roommate, loves her hallmates, and has two new extended families in her fellow nurses and "Newmans."

"Everything is just so perfect," she jokes, "I'm almost like 'knock on wood, what's wrong?'"

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