A Day in the Life of Penn’s Named Scholarship Students

The lives of Penn’s students are as busy and exciting as ever with classes, extracurricular activities, studying, and more:

• Many students now have classes that extend into the evening, including about 40% of aided undergraduates, who have a class after 5:00 PM Monday through Thursday
• 13 College Houses (14 in Fall 2023!) with over 30 interest-based thematic Program Communities
• Over 450 student-run clubs
• More than 1,100 Penn students participate in 35 active club sports
• More than 4,200 courses offered – including more than 40 languages
• More than 2,000 students take part in intramural sports leagues

To learn more about what it is like to be a Penn student today, check out the stories below detailing the days in the lives of these students during the first days of the Spring 2023 semester.

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Shamelia, Nu’26
Major: Nursing
Hometown: Newark, NJ

8:00 AM
Grab a bagel and cranberry juice and eat with my friend at Kings Court English College House (KCECH).

8:15 AM
Walk to Fagin Hall for my 8:30 AM Nutrition class.

10:00 AM
My next class is Introduction to Africana Studies, so I walk over to the Annenberg School for Communication. We went over the syllabus, watched half an episode of Underground and discussed the monologue. I then introduced myself to the professor before leaving class.

12:15 PM
Went to Houston Hall for lunch, where I had a burrito from La Plancha and talked with some friends.

4:00 PM
Reviewed all my class syllabi and started to plan out the semester. Then I wrote out all my assignments that were coming up in the next week.

7:00 PM
Ate leftover food from my fridge for dinner and watched an episode of The Umbrella Academy on Netflix. 

9:00 PM
Drank a cup of tea to begin preparing for bed.

10:30 PM
Went to sleep so I could be well rested for my 10:15 AM class the next day.

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Yasmine, W’26
Major: Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Hometown: Casablanca, Morocco

7:30 AM
My alarm goes off. I know today is my busiest day of the week so I plan ahead.

9:45 AM
I call my mom and tell her about the day I had yesterday as I walk to class at the David Rittenhouse Laboratory.

10:15 AM
Math 1400 lecture – and it turns out I have a friend with me in it!

11:45 AM
Mandatory Starbucks coffee break!

12:00 PM
Management 1010. Our professor encourages us to participate which makes the class more engaging.

1:45 PM
Computer and Information Science 1100 Lecture at the Towne Building. We code our first program and the professors are pretty fun.

3:30 PM
My final class of the day is a writing seminar in new global politics of religion. We work on our first exercise, which is to form a logical argument on things the dining halls at Penn should improve.

5:00 PM
I go to McClelland Sushi & Market to grab a sushi box on my way back to my dorm room in Hill College House. I eat my sushi while catching up on homework.

7:30 PM
I choose my favorite way of procrastinating: playing piano in the Hill music rooms. The pianos there are gorgeous and isolated enough that I can sing as loudly as I want to.

9:00 PM
I go back up to my room and get started again on homework.

10:30 PM
It’s time for me to go to bed. I take the time to do skin care and a bit of planning for tomorrow before falling asleep.

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Angela, C’23
Major: Neuroscience
Minor: Chemistry & East Asian Area Studies
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

7:30 AM
Wake up, brush teeth, and rinse my face. I get ready for my workout class at 8:30 AM.

8:30 AM
I arrive at the workout studio and check in. I always find going to a workout class rewarding and a form of self-care.

9:20 AM
I take the bus back to campus on Walnut Street. It is always peaceful and calming to look over the Schuylkill River while crossing the bridge.

9:50 AM
I get back to my apartment and I make a simple breakfast. I scroll through my phone to check for any emails or text messages. I routinely check my emails since email is the main way to communicate with professors.

10:30 AM
Time to go to my lab! I grab a coffee on my way. It’s really convenient to have a coffee shop that you can mobile order from!

1:00 PM
Finish my work at lab for the day and grab lunch from one of the food carts on campus. After getting off the dining plan, they’re the best to-go lunch places.

1:45 PM
My first class of the day is Negotiations, a very well-known Wharton class. As a pre-med student, this is an eye-opening class and allows me to expand beyond my STEM bubble.

3:15 PM
I rush out of Huntsman Hall and head to my next class, Modern Chinese Literature at Williams Hall.

7:00 PM 
Head out again for my club’s recruitment event.

9:00 PM
Return to my apartment and eat a quick dinner. Shower, turn on my laptop, work on assignments, and read materials for my upcoming classes. I make a cup of tea to warm myself up and stay awake. I love lighting candles while studying.

12:00 AM
Brush teeth, call a friend, candle off, lights off, and sweet dreams.

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Huseyin, Nu’24
Major: Nursing
Hometown: Beverly, NJ

7:15 AM
My alarm goes off, and I take a deep breath and sit in my bed for five minutes before I get started with my day.

7:30 AM
I shower, brush my teeth, and tell myself I’m handsome before I leave the house.

8:30 AM
Met up with my best friend. We walk to Claire M. Fagin Hall for our first class of the day, Behavioral Health and Psychiatric Nursing.

9:30 AM
After a brief look at the syllabus, we broke into groups to create a small discussion document about behavioral health services being provided in K–12 grade schooling.

11:40 AM
After class, my friend and I make our way to 1920 Commons. I have a chicken and cheese quesadilla.  Honest rating: 7/10 not bad at all.

1:45 PM
During our first class of Scientific Inquiry for Evidence-Based Practice, we learn the differences in research methods and how they are used in clinical evidence-based research.

4:30 PM
One more class to go! My friend and I get a study room before our last class, Children’s Literature.

5:45 PM
We read a children’s book called Interrupting Chicken. Our class concludes that this book illustrates the importance of slowing down and cherishing each moment in life.

6:30 PM
I get Chipotle as a reward for finishing my first day of classes for the semester.

7:30 PM
Back at my dorm, I’m now ready to unpack everything I completed today. Before I unwind for the night, I will go through all my course materials and make sure I am ready for tomorrow.

8:30 PM
After a warm shower, it is time to watch my favorite TV show, Peaky Blinders.

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Prableen, C’26, W’26
Major: Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management
Hometown: Roslyn Heights, NY

9:30 AM
Wake up and quickly get ready for class. Eat a granola bar for an easy breakfast.

10:15 AM
Go to my first Biology 2210 class of the semester. See some of my friends from the Vagelos Program in Life Sciences and Management (LSM) for the first time since winter break.

12:00 PM
For lunch I have one of the the tasty burritos from La Plancha at Houston Hall with my friends while doing some classwork.

2:00 PM
Go to the LSM lounge with some friends to pick up personally signed books by Dr. Vagelos himself 🙂

2:30 PM
Head to the Weingarten Center with friends from LSM to sign up for tutoring for chemistry and biology for the semester.

3:00 PM
Check out the Summer Opportunities Fair with my friend at Boden Lounge.

5:30 PM
Do some school work at the Academic Research Building.

7:30 PM
Have dinner at Lauder College House with everyone from LSM.

8:30 PM
Go to Kings Court English College House with all the LSM’ers and spent time catching up, playing pool and ping pong.

11:00 PM
Go back to the quad for a mini surprise birthday party for one of our friends. Everyone from our floor is there.

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