Convocation 2014 |
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September 2, 2014, Volume 61, No. 03 |
Provost Vincent Price delivered remarks to the Class of 2018 at the Opening Convocation after Off the Beat offered a musical welcome to the newest members of the University community.
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Find Your Place At Penn
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University of Pennsylvania Provost Vincent Price
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As Provost, I have the great pleasure of welcoming you to Penn. President Gutmann once playfully noted that provost has a number of meanings…including prison warden. I prefer chief academic officer, which is not only more accurate here but also a bit more collegial.
As the President mentioned, a convocation is a gathering of people, for some special purpose, in some particular place. It’s bigger than a meet-up and less ephemeral than Snapchat. This evening we have our gathering—the first time you have assembled together as a class. Our purpose tonight is twofold: to welcome you to Penn and to formally open the academic year. Perhaps there’s a third fold: sometimes, we can’t resist giving advice…or at least, I can’t. What I’d like to focus on for an extra moment tonight is our place—not this specific spot in front of College Hall, hallowed though it may be, but place in the larger sense: your place in this class, here at Penn, and, after four years, in the world beyond it.
Places can be indelible markers in our lives. We have highly emotional, even visceral attachments to certain places. Consider the memorable events in our lives. We often forget their exact dates or times. But we do remember where we were when they occurred. And how we felt: excited or nervous…happy or sad…impatient for me to get on with it.
Some places shape our identity. Where we were born, the street we grew up on, the house we lived in—these places we call home, and they help to make us who we are. Now Penn is a new home for each of you. In a world of increasingly virtual interactions, a college campus has a wonderful way of reminding us that some benefits are best enjoyed together, in person, sharing the same place.
Like any new place, Penn can be a little disorienting—at times, maybe even a little scary. Maybe you just met your new roommate, and you’re trying to understand how somebody can possibly be a hoarder after just a few days. You may second-guess some of the decisions you make here: one or another of the classes you selected, perhaps eventually your choice of a major. Should you have such doubts, don’t worry. They are a natural part of being someplace new, and they will pass. When we move, we talk about “finding our place.” It takes some time. And incidentally, these doubts will be shared by many of your classmates. That’s the power of college: you are all finding your place here.
I can’t guarantee you and your roommate will be best friends. But part of your Penn education will be learning how to manage relationships: how to work with others, even—or especially—when you disagree. It’s a skill that will serve you very well here—and in your future.
And keep in mind that, as much as places make us, we make places what they are—or at least, we make them our own. This place is no different. Penn will be what you make of it. You can be the person you’ve always been. (A person we like, by the way: that’s why we added you to the class!) Or you can reinvent yourself, if you want to. You can have fun—which I endorse—or you can have a little too much fun. You can challenge yourself. You could probably try to coast for four years, if you so choose—but I think that in itself would be a challenge.
I suggest the unfamiliar way, where there are new things to learn, new groups to join, new destinations to visit and foods to try. Leave your comfort zone. Take classes on topics you know nothing about. Learn how to act, or sing, or play tennis or write fiction. If you ever get lost, or find you’ve taken on more than you can manage, or feel out of place—please, just ask for help. This is yet another skill that will serve you well long after you’ve graduated. Finally, resist the impulse to do too much. We want you invigorated but not exhausted. Learn the important place of sleep in your life. Make sure you get enough of it.
Tonight, just think of this place as your place, waiting to be made. Four years from now, I’m fairly certain you won’t remember what date we gathered here, nor what day it was. And I’m not naïve enough to think you’ll remember everything I’ve said…though I hope you’ll remember something…you are Penn students, after all.
However, I’m very confident that you will remember exactly where you were and precisely how you felt: very excited…a little nervous…and immensely proud to take your rightful place as a member of the class of 2018.
Welcome to Penn.
Related: Make the Connection, Remarks by President Amy Gutmann |