The Importance of the Staff and Faculty in the Penn Community

Something that will naturally occur during your college experience is building relationships with faculty and staff, which has probably been one of my favorite aspects of Penn. The staff and faculty have been able to get me through some of my toughest times in college. 

My go-to place on campus to get lunch (during a normal semester) is a salad place in Houston Hall called Ivy Leaf. Because I am a regular at  Ivy Leaf, I have been able to develop a relationship with the workers there- specifically a woman named Dawn. Dawn is like my mother away from home because every time I see her, she has a radiant smile on her face and greets me with her signature warm bear hug (obviously during pre-pandemic times). 

One of my fondest encounters with Dawn was back in February. It was one of those days where everything that could possibly go wrong went wrong- I was running a slight fever and had scheduled an appointment with Student Health Services later that day, I had performed poorly on a midterm, and on top of that, I was having some friendship drama. I stopped by Ivy Leaf to get lunch on the way to my work-study job, and naturally, I was greeted by Dawn and her warm smile. She automatically sensed something was wrong when I approached her and left her workstation to talk with me. She then fixed me a free bowl of soup and crackers and reassured me that everything was going to be alright. Her gesture of kindness and compassion meant the world to me, and it is an amazing reflection of the staff and faculty at Penn. Dawn is just one of the many great people in the Penn community that make this campus an amazing place. 

-  Ami I