The Weird, the Wacky, and the Wondrous

Hi everyone!

As the summer is getting started for most of you just graduating, I’m sure you are getting asked about Penn State at every graduation party.  With this being said, I hope to give you some of Penn State’s best kept weird, wacky and wondrous secrets!

The Weird:

Humans vs. Zombies

If you see a random marshmallow or rolled-up sock on the ground, it’s not a result of a ‘Project X’ type party; it’s from the Penn State Urban Gaming Club, Humans vs. Zombies!  This is the most epic nerf gun, marshmallow and rolled-up sock wielding, campus-wide war!  The game consists of players who are humans and players who are zombies that takes place all day and night ALL over campus.  Whether you’ve been caught in the cross fire or participate, it is definitely one of Penn State’s best kept secrets. 

Saxophone and Valentine Serenades

Penn State promotes an environment of creative entertainment!  There are many students on campus that have extraordinary musical ability and like to show it off by serenading (or stalking) people walking around campus and downtown like the Saxophone Man during finals week in 2011.  You can see him in action in the youtube clip below (and even get a nice tour of the campus)! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fd9LOA4plk

Valentine’s day is a time to show your significant other how much you really care about them.  And what better way can you show them than by embarrassing them in front of hundreds of their classmates with a singing valentine during class?!  The week of valentine’s day is always a treat when you have class in forum as you can be sure to hear one of the singing groups singing to a loved one like in the youtube clip below during class!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vc-qdUwCAw

The Wacky:

The Willard Preacher

If you happen to have class in Willard Building next semester, you are in for a big surprise.  You can be sure that Gary Catell, also known as the Willard Preacher, will be at the Willard entrance, rain or shine, giving a sermon to any students who will listen.  You will find that you should not try and challenge his views as you will only get frustrated and be late for class!  However, you have to applaud him for his dedication.

The Gorilla Man

If you find yourself feeling down on a Thursday, you can be sure to find yourself smiling after the Gorilla Man wishes you a Happy Thursday on his bike followed by his gang of skateboarders, bicyclists and unicyclists.  The Gorilla Man is simply a guy in a gorilla suit who is usually accompanied by a guy in a banana suit.  The combination of positivity and fun makes for a ‘Happy Thursday’ and definitely one of Penn State’s best kept wacky secrets!

The Wondrous  (besides THON of course!)

There are two specific words that come to mind when I think of the secret wonderful things at Penn State...

FREE STUFF (even at WEPO)!

FREE T-SHIRTS!!  If you participate in anything at Penn State you will almost be guaranteed to get a free t-shirt!  This includes going to volley ball games, gymnastic meets, paternoville, community service days and so many more. 

FREE HUB EVENTS!!  The HUB has even more free and exciting activities going on.  There is late night (crafting, music, games), movies, comedians, hypnotists, bands like FUN, and salsa dancing!  You can usually find out what’s going on in the HUB in the Daily Collegian or Stall Stories which can be found in the stalls in the dorm bathrooms (another one of Penn State’s best kept media outlets)!

FREE SHOWS!! If you enjoy going to the theater then you will love the No Refund Theater Productions in 111 Forum.  They do sketch comedies like Phroth Phest, dramas including ‘Rope’ and tragedies like Shakespeare’s Hamlet.  The term No Refund comes from the fact that their shows are FREE and are produced entirely on donations!

One other best kept wondrous secret about Penn State are the people you meet.  The ‘staters’ you meet in your 4 (or 5) years at school are some of the best friends you will ever make and whom you will have long lasting friendships with.

Hopefully you have learned some new interesting topics to talk about when people ask you about Penn State this summer and are getting excited about starting a new chapter in your life!  Hope to see you at WEPO!!

Greetings from the Navy Yard!

Hello future Penn State women engineers (Yes, there’s a difference between an engineer and a PSU engineer)!  Now that you know what great opportunities lie ahead of you thanks to the wonderful ladies who already shared their advice and experiences, I thought I’d let you know what to expect on your first day of classes. 

Most people feel so nervous about the first day that they even have dreams about oversleeping and being late.  Luckily for you guys, I’ll give you the step by step guide on surviving your first day.

1.       What should I wear?  EVERYONE tries to look their best on the first day.  To make your morning manageable, pick your outfit out the night before that way you waste no time figuring out what shirt/pants/shorts/shoes combination you want to wear.  (This is especially important for those with 8am classes when time is very minimal when getting ready!)  Having your outfit picked out not only saves you time but also keeps you stress-free when you go to bed knowing you have one less thing to worry about. 

2.       What should I bring?  Depending on how many classes you have will determine what kind of bag you want to carry on an average day.  If you have more than 2 classes in the morning and can’t make it to your dorm in between classes, its best to use a bookbag.  If you only have 1 class, then a small bag could probably be used.  Personally I use a bookbag in both cases J.  On the first day though, a pen or pencil and notebook should suffice for all your classes, unless your professor emailed you notes to print out from ANGEL (which you will learn more about at WEPO!).  Not much is learned the first day of classes, although there have been some classes that jump right into the material. 

3.       When should I leave for my class(es)?  Keep in mind that it takes an average person about 15 minutes to walk from the eastern side of campus (buildings such as Thomas and Life Science) to the western side (buildings such as Sparks, E-House, Willard).  Many times people go to the first class fairly early (about 10 min before) so you can get settled and avoid having to walk over people in lecture halls.  This extra time also gives you some leeway just in case you get lost inside the building or going to the building. 

4.       The campus is so big!  How can I avoid getting lost?  Before you leave your dorm I would glance at your campus map and put the map in your notebook/folder in your bookbag for future use.  When you get to your first class, I would glance at your map again to see where your second class is and so on.  This way you have an idea about where to go without looking like a ‘tourist’ on campus pulling out your map while walking to classes.  I would also do a walk through to all your classes the day before so you have an idea of what the buildings look like (ask your mentors/rovers if they can take you!).

5.       I’m in the classroom/lecture hall, where should I sit?  Depending on the type of person you are dictates where you sit.  If you are really interested in the course and want the professor to notice you, sit in the front center!  This way you are forced to pay attention and the professor sees your dedication to the class.  If you are more of an observing student, the middle of the room should work, this way you can focus without feeling pressured in the front row.  Don’t be afraid to sit next to people!  The first day of classes is stressful for everyone, so relieve the stress and start up a conversation with your neighbor before class starts.  Some common conversation starters:

“Hey, what’s your major?”, “which dorm do you live in?”, “what class do you have next, maybe we can walk there together.”,  “where are you from?”

Hopefully with this survival guide you will feel much more comfortable going to classes and can focus on meeting new people and of course your classes.  Just remember, there are thousands of other students just like you on the first day of classes, so it’s okay to be a little nervous!

Can’t wait to meet everyone at WEPO!

Megan Kraus is a junior majoring in Chemical Engineering. She is a Mentor for WEPO 2011, and is also involved in SWE, THON, EHouse and serves as an Engineering Envoy. She has completed two  internship rotations for the Naval Surface Warfare Center. Contact Megan at mxk5171@psu.edu.