College junior and President Jake Gurevitch (left) and College junior and Treasurer Liam Theveny (right) were inspired to start the Bucket List club after noticing the pervasiveness of the "Penn bubble." (Photos from Jake Gurevitch)
Penn students walk past a LOVE statue on Locust Walk every day — but some may have never seen the identical statue in Center City. A new Penn club aims to help students have experiences beyond campus and check items off their 'Penn bucket lists.'"
The club, Penn Bucket, will host events for its members that lead them to venture outside of the “Penn bubble” and explore Philadelphia. The group will hold monthly "burst" events, which involve traveling to places in the greater Philadelphia area, as well as more frequent outings called "pop" events, which will be smaller and involve group members going to places within walking distance of Penn's campus. A burst event might be going to a restaurant in Fishtown, while a pop event could be going to a nearby park. The club will start meeting in a socially distant manner this semester.
College junior and Penn Bucket President Jake Gurevitch said members have plans to visit Chinatown and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as to walk all the way from the Quad to the Delaware River. Penn Bucket will also end the semester with a scavenger hunt, where members will be tasked with completing as many bucket list items as possible in one week.
Gurevitch said that he wants students, whether they are club members or not, to consult the bucket list for inspiration on things to do on their own beyond Penn’s campus. He added that non-club members are able to contribute to the bucket list.
Gurevitch said he was inspired to start the club with his close friends College junior and Treasurer Liam Theveny and College junior and Vice President Robert Novak after noticing the pervasiveness of the "Penn bubble."
"The reason I started the club was because of the feeling that kids at Penn were trapped in the 'Penn bubble,' both in terms of not being able to meet people who were like them and also being trapped in the bubble that is the University and not ever leaving campus and exploring the greater Philadelphia area," Gurevitch said.
Theveny said that the club was supposed to start in spring 2020, but their plans were disrupted when Penn closed campus to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The planned events for the club will be chosen from a "communal bucket list," which will be compiled throughout the semester with the input of club members.
College first year Otto Kindel, who is interested in joining Penn Bucket, said he has already seen evidence of the Penn bubble during his first month on campus.
“It can sometimes be difficult to venture off campus, while maintaining COVID-19 safety protocols, without some type of organized effort,” Kindel said.
Gurevitch said that he hopes the club brings together like-minded people who want to get out of their comfort zones and explore Philadelphia.
“This is supposed to be a really chill club that is just meant to get your mind off of Penn, get your mind off of classes, all the crap that can sometimes pervade your life on Penn's campus, and just do something fun and have a cool experience,” he said.
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