Home Away from Home: Packer Hall

Hello Ladies!  My name is Samantha “Sam” Burt.  I am a sophomore in Civil Engineering and I will be a Rover for WEPO 2012!

I remember talking with my mother about where I was going to live my freshman year and I knew that I wanted to branch out and not live with just engineering students.  I requested random housing and was placed in Packer Hall.  I must admit that I was nervous, but I was so excited to meet new people and see what all Penn State had to offer.   

The first week of school is definitely the most exciting! Everyone in the dorms leave their doors open and there are plenty of opportunities to meet girls on your floor.  It is so nice to see where everyone is from and to see the majors that they are interested in.  For instance, my best friend from the floor is from New York and is a Political Science major.  

When classes began it was soon evident that many of the other girls from the floor were not in the same classes as me and some of them had a lot more free time.  However, this had never discouraged me from forming relationships with the people around me.  We would go to dinner together or we would just sit around and talk about our days.  I loved my building but as it turns out I secretly had a second home on campus.

Many of my best friends lived in Pennypacker Hall (home of the Special Living Option: Freshmen in Science and Engineering Building (FISE)) and I soon became a frequent visitor.  We are all engineering students and so we were in many of the same classes together.    I spent most evenings in Pennypacker, studying and doing homework with friends.  I spent so much time on the fifth floor of Pennypacker that many of the other residents began to recognize me and we were on a first name basis.  One guy in the elevator even told me that I needed to add some “Penny to my Packer.”

I began to wonder if I should have applied for FISE, but then I realized that I probably would have never met my other amazing friends had I not been placed in Packer Hall.  Dorm life is exciting and scary all at the same time, but there is no need to worry!  Your experience is what you make of it! So keep an open mind and I know that you will have an amazing year!  See you soon!

Sam is a sophomore in Civil Engineering. She is a rover for WEPO 2012.