Finding a Smaller Family in the Greater Penn Community

The beginning of any semester is incredible for many reasons. It's a new start for classes, for clubs, for you. And while the fall and the spring bring different attitudes, they both offer Penn students the valuable opportunity to take part in something new or simply just to become more involved with a club that they are already in love with.

At the eve of any semester clubs are undergoing a process of "turnover" in which they prepare for the parting seniors by looking for new leadership and new members. This is turn offers Penn students the opportunity to take a chance on a huge variety of extracurricular activities from the arts to business to publications. With 450+ clubs on campus the potential "homes" are endless. I has personally never had a hobby of any kind before coming to Penn, but when I saw all of the clubs looking for new membership I knew it would be a tragedy not to go for it. I tried out of dancing groups, singing groups, acting groups, writing groups, social groups. I  found family among the myriad of clubs I had tried out for. Each club was different but each offered me to tap into a different passion within myself among a group of people who shared the same desired to volunteer, to write, and to heal. Finding these groups came from nothing else than the fearlessness to try something new and the faith that my family was out there in the sea of clubs and it was my job to find it. 

So whether you know what your passion is and you have your eye on a specific club or you're like me and you're still figuring out who you are and what's your thing, go out, go audition, have fun and always have faith that things will work out. They always do, and you'll find your family at Penn; you just need to have to courage to go out and find it.

-Kelli L. '17