I’m sure everyone reading this has heard the common stereotypes of an honors student: a ghostly-pale figure that never leaves the dorm room (or the general vicinity of their desk) for their entire four years in college. And, believe it or not, I was a huge believer in this before coming to Penn State. In fact, I knew of many people like that from my high school: those who would sit in the library during lunch, complain to teacher about an A-, or glare at you when you got a better grade than them. So, by now, you may be asking yourself: “Well, if this is what Mike thinks of honors students, why is he trying to get into Schreyer’s through the Paterno Fellows Program?” Because, while the people mentioned above may have gone on to continue doing that, and only that, we here at Penn State have something very hard to come by at those schools: Balance
Breaking the Stereotype – Part I: Introductions
Over the semester, I plan on writing a column titled (well, as you can see above): Breaking the Stereotype which will follow me (a fellow like yourselves) in my journey to break the stereotype of the ‘typical’ honors student by getting super involved on campus while continuing the academic levels that are expected from a Fellow. Penn State, as I stated above, has all the advantages of a premiere University while boasting things those schools can’t claim: Division I Sports with the best student section in the country, over 160 clubs and groups, the second largest Greek system in the country… hopefully you’re starting to see a trend here (hint: we’re awesome).
And now, before I go ranting for too long, a little bit about your humble author:
Hi! My name is Mike Goldenberg and I am a freshman in the Paterno Fellows program with an intended double major in Psychology-Neuroscience and Jewish Studies (but hey, it’s college… so that’s probably gonna change). For the first ten years of my life, I was born and raised in Israel, calling the northern port city of Haifa my home. After moving to the States at age ten, my family settled in Baltimore, MD where I attended Beth Tfiloh, a private Jewish day school, until graduation. While I now split my time between Baltimore and Hershey, PA as my hometowns, Penn State is now my new home… as it is yours. And as our home, we’ve got to live in it to its full potential! Make sure to get involved on campus: tag along with your roommate to the meeting for the club they joined, go watch the Nittany Lions beat the Illinois Fighting Illini this Saturday, or even just go play some pick-up football with your floor. “We are… Penn State” doesn’t mean just the academics, people, it means making sure to make the most of your college career, inside the classroom and out.
Also, make sure to let me know (either via e-mail or just by commenting below) about what YOU’VE been doing around campus so we can share it with all the other Fellows who want to get involved!