Katie's Graduation

I was at Katie’s Graduation this week. It felt like only yesterday that I was the freshmen boy who lived down the hall from the girls of 907. It’s really hard to believe that next year I’ll be done with college as well, and forced to deal with the real world, or escape to grad school for 2-3 more years of academia.

I went up with Katie’s full family and had a great time. While I was extremely proud of Katie, part of me was understandably sad as well, as graduation marked the passing of a chapter of our lives where we got to spend the better part of every day with each other. While I have no doubt that we’ll work things out next year and in the future, I’ll miss her constant companionship and friendship next year.

I don’t think I’ve seen Katie so happy in a really long time. Maybe it had to do with being done with all the roommate nonsense she put up with all year, (read: never live with all girls..it’s a disaster waiting to happen), or maybe it had to do with landing her dream job for a year before medical school, or perhaps the second semester in a row where she has rocked in the grades department. Whatever the case might be, I can only hope to be so happy at the end of my four years at Penn.

I have very much enjoyed my time at Penn. I’ve gotten to meet some really fantastic people and have felt I’ve grown in all facets of my life- It’s probably the closest I’ve ever been to having a well rounded life.

I also think my love of Penn has been closely related to by infatuation with the city of Philadelphia. Yes, the city of Brotherly Love where more than a person a day is murdered, the city where there are only 2 subway lines, the city that hasn’t won a sports title in 40 years, and a city whose schools are some of the worst in the nation. For all of its problems, Philadelphia has a lot more going for it than people give it credit.
1st- cost. In Philadelphia, I can get 3 eggs with cheese on a hoagie for $1.75- in NYC 2 eggs & cheese on a roll will cost you at least $2.50. Nice apartments in Philadelphia can be found for less than $800 while its hard to find anything in NYC for under $1,000.
2nd- Philadelphia is built at a more human scale than NYC. I often feel swallowed up in the machine organism of the city- both the sheer size and scale of the city is overpowering at times.
3rd- Climate- Philadelphia is typically 5 degrees warmer than NYC, which is sometimes the difference between riding outside and riding my trainer
Lastly- while both my LBS and Katie are originally from Long Island, it wasnt until Philly that i discovered Katie or biking, two of the best things to ever happen to me.