When I first came to Penn State, this school was so huge that it felt overwhelming. For the first few months, I followed the crowd; I stayed in the HUB between classes to eat and do work, I only looked at apartments downtown for my sophomore year, and I thought I needed to join a sorority to make friends.
However, now that I have successfully made it to my junior year of college, I’ve developed my own opinions about our beloved campus and its culture. I’ve learned so much through my own experiences here, but also through the experiences of friends that have now graduated, and friends that are freshmen themselves.
While none of these takes are piping hot, they are generally unpopular opinions in the mainstream Penn State culture. Whether you agree or disagree is completely your prerogative, however, this is what I have found in my time here at University Park.
the hub is the worst place to do work
The HUB is always booming mid-day, and I honestly don’t understand it. The food there is so overpriced, it’s loud, and most of the “study spaces” only have chairs, no desks.
I am someone who needs a table or desk to spread out my laptop, iPad, books and planner to do work, so I can’t get anything done in one of those chairs. It’s also so loud that even with headphones I can never block out all the noise.
I simply do not see the appeal of hanging out in the HUB between classes. If the answer is location, the Biobehavioral Health Building, at the base of Hub Lawn, has tables by beautiful, large windows to do work. The library is also only a five minute walk away. Just three minutes in the other direction is the bridge by the Thomas Building with the perfect view of the trees and campus.
If you’re someone who likes to spend time in the HUB between classes, why? What is the appeal for you? I genuinely would love to know.
Until then, you can find me in the Chambers Building or the fifth floor of the library, enjoying my peaceful environment, comfy chairs, privacy and desk space.
living further away from campus is better than living downtown
As someone who has lived on campus, downtown, and now further off campus, I can attest that living further away from campus really is better.
First of all, you can find places with much cheaper rent the further you go off campus. The average price of a one-bedroom apartment downtown is over $1500/month. My rent in my current apartment is $880/month split between myself and my boyfriend, which is amazing for State College.
Downtown, parking space is scarce, making parking expensive. Last year, I would have had to pay $1200 for a parking space by my apartment for the year. At my current apartment, however, parking is included in my rent.
By living further off campus, my commute by car is still much shorter than my walk from my downtown apartment. Last year, it took me 25 minutes to walk from my apartment to my first class. This year, it takes me a little less than 15 minutes to drive to campus, park, and walk to class.
The moral of the story is, don’t be afraid to move further away from campus. You will not miss out on anything, and you will still make it to all your classes. In fact, if you’re anything like me, you’ll be happier than ever that you get to save so much money on rent.
a frat will never be as fun as an apartment or house party
This isn’t a hot take for most juniors, but I was over the frats by mid-freshman year. They’re hot, the bathrooms are disgusting, the music is rarely good, and I personally don’t find them fun.
Going to a friend’s apartment or house party is always so much better. With less people, you have options. You can dance, but you can also play games, talk to different people and the environment is generally much more comfortable.
At a friend’s place, you can usually make music requests, have great conversations and have room to actually dance rather than just hopping in place. If you’re a freshman or sophomore who is already sick of the frat environment, you are not alone, and there are better options out there for you.
you do not need to join greek life to have fun or to make friends
There is nothing wrong with Greek Life, and for some people their sorority or fraternity is where they make their best friends. However, many people come to college with the misconception that if they want to have friends or be invited to things they need to be a part of Greek Life. In my experience, everything you get from Greek Life can come from other organizations as well.
I used to think I wanted to rush a sorority, but then I saw the dues. As a student who struggles with money, a sorority was out of the question for me. However, I quickly realized that a sorority was never the place for me anyway.
I wanted to get involved in THON. By joining The Singing Lions, I joined a dedicated THON organization that fundraises year-round with a variety of events, performs at THON, and has dancers each year.
I wanted to make friends. However, I didn’t just find friends, but also a family through my involvement in The Singing Lions. We travel together, spend arguably too much time together and support each other through everything.
I wanted to be invited to parties, be a part of a community and have a Big and Little. I now have it all.
All you really need in college is to feel like you’re a part of a community of people working toward the same goal. You can get this from any org, not just Greek Life. If you’re someone who worries that you can’t afford to be involved in Greek Life, or that it isn’t for you, don’t be afraid that you won’t be able to find your place on this campus. You’ll find your people, and you can get everything you want without sacrificing who you are.
the tailgate is usually better than the game
This might not be a piping hot take, but I have never had as much fun at a Penn State football game as I do at some of the tailgates. During the game I usually cannot see anything, and I end up being shoved around by the people around me. However, the tailgates always have great food and fun games like cornhole and Stump.
I’ve gotten to the point where there are certain games that are worth attending, but most of the time I would rather be at a tailgate with friends, cheering on the team from outside the stadium with some buffalo chicken dip in hand.
there are so many underrated restaurants downtown
There are some restaurants that are undeniably famous in State College: El Jefe’s, Bagel Crust, Playa Bowls, Yallah Taco, Raising Cane’s and Chipotle are just a few. I’m not saying that these places don’t deserve the hype, but there are so many amazing restaurants that fly completely under the radar.
Big Bowl has some of the best Chinese food I’ve ever had for incredible prices and massive portions. Poke Fresh is so good and is honestly pretty affordable, especially when you can get rewards through Snackpass. Cozy Thai really does have the coziest food and vibes.
Webster’s has amazing vegetarian and vegan options and a super cute bookstore to do work in. Little Szechuan isn’t necessarily underrated, but definitely isn’t talked about as much as it should be for those delicious hot chili oil dumplings. Underground Burgers and Crepes has amazing deals on Snackpass, and somehow managed to master the art of making delicious crepes for breakfast and perfect burgers for dinner.
There are so many great local restaurants downtown to try, so take a walk on Calder, Beaver or College and try a few.
i would rather write a ten-page essay than do a singular packback post
Discussion posts are literally the worst.
Why do I have to write a paragraph based on someone else’s two-sentence response that barely has to do with the question? I would take an essay any day.
you’re going to have fomo no matter what, so just make a decision and let the rest go
At a school this big, there will always be more clubs that you are interested in joining, more interesting classes that you’d like to take, another minor you’d like to “just pick up,” more people you want to be friends with, more restaurants you “need to try,” more study spots to try out, more parties to go to – more everything.
However, you can’t possibly do it all. Of course, you want to try as much as possible, but sometimes the pressure to do everything gets to be too much. I know I often find myself stressing about whether I should have joined that club, talked to that one girl more, taken that other HDFS class so I could pick up a minor, tried that one restaurant and so much more.
Although having so many opportunities is a gift, it’s also a bit of a curse. At some point you just have to tell yourself “my decision is made” and let everything else go.
Although there are groups on this campus I would love to be a part of, I can’t do it all. What I can do is put my absolute all into the groups that I am a part of.
There are 40,000 potential friends on this campus, but I know I can’t be friends with them all. It’s about quality over quantity, and what I can do is spend as much time as possible with the friends I do have and foster meaningful relationships with those people.
At some point, you need to just embrace what you do have and put your all into that. Don’t be that girl at the party talking about all the other parties you could have gone to that night. Embrace where you are and have the time of your life.
as an adult, it is up to you to figure out how to communicate
So many people have issues in college with their roommates, friends or even professors. So often, these issues are rooted in not being able to communicate.
If you need some space because you’re exhausted and stressed out and your roommate keeps having her boyfriend over until 1 am, it’s easy to start to feel bitter and resentful. However, as an adult, you need to communicate these feelings.
We aren’t in high school anymore. It’s not okay to blame all of your problems on other people and talk about them behind their back when you haven’t communicated your feelings.
If you have communicated, and your roommate has completely ignored your feelings, that is a completely different story. However, as an adult, you need to be able to communicate what you need and how you feel. This is an incredibly important life skill that needs to be developed, and college is the time to start.
It’s time to start owning up to your mistakes, to apologize when you’re wrong, and to take accountability. It’s also time to communicate what you need, to share how you feel and to have conversations about how to resolve conflict now and in the future.
whether this school feels big or small is completely up to you
Penn State is, objectively, a huge school. With over 40,000 undergraduate students, this campus can feel overwhelming and scary at first.
However, as a junior, I can say that it doesn’t feel big to me anymore. Actually, this school feels very small. I am constantly running into people I know either directly or through a friend, and I feel very comfortable at this here.
Penn State is truly great for both extroverts and introverts.
As an extrovert myself, I love that this school has so many different people and so many opportunities to get involved.
Even though there are 40,000 of us, we are all bonded by the fact that we are a part of the Penn State community. Because of this, you will always have something in common with everyone you meet in classes and extracurriculars.
For an introvert, this campus is perfect for embracing the privacy of being at such a large school. Most of the time, nobody will know you in your classes, so you can wear whatever you want without feeling judged.
Nobody will look twice at someone sitting alone to do work, and you will never be expected to talk to a stranger on the street. Nobody will force you to join any activities or to go to parties.
However, the key part is that nobody will force you to do any of those things, because nobody knows who you are until you put yourself out there.
As a Penn State student, you have to be brave enough to allow yourself to reach for the opportunities this school presents. There is so much you can do, but nobody is going to force you to get involved. You need to put yourself out there to join organizations, make friends and create memories.
To me, this school feels small, but that is because I have found my circle. I am comfortable here because I have an amazing group of friends to do things with. I am part of several incredible organizations that give me opportunities to play an important role as a student on this campus.
There are so many opportunities available to me, and as a junior I am now comfortable reaching out and taking them without any semblance of imposter syndrome.
I made this school feel small, and you have the choice to make it your own. Once you find your niche here, you’ll never go back to feeling overwhelmed by this campus again.