We’re taking our dear founder’s most famous quotes, and applying them to the lives of Penn women today!
“One today is worth two tomorrows.”
Rapper Drake’s favorite motto, YOLO, has become ubiquitous lately. Zac Efron got it tattooed on his hand, it’s a trending topic on twitter every other week, and it seems like everywhere people are adopting the “You Only Live Once” mentality. To these people I say: Ben Franklin would commend you! His quote above certainly follows the trend by encouraging us to live in the moment.
Ben Franklin says: “YOLO!”
I don’t know how it’s been for you guys, but my first year here at Penn has gone by in flash. It seems like just yesterday I was perusing the aisles of Bed Bath & Beyond, looking for bedding and desk lamps, all while wondering what college would be like.
Realizing that my time as a college student is so short was a major wake up call for me. It clicked when my two roomies and I went for a jog the other day. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the three of us couldn’t help wanting to soak it up for an hour or so. Since I am certainly not the runner of the group, I let my gal pals take the lead. First came the usual stuff: we passed Ben and Jerry’s, Qdoba, and the post office. But then, as our run continued, the scenery became less familiar. Was that an elementary school? When did that row of cute apartments pop up? How long had that trendy restaurant been there? By the time we reached 47th street, I was (in addition to being totally wiped out and crazy sweaty) amazed. How had I never seen any of these places? I decided then that I needed to get out more.
And so, my friends and I formed an Explore Philly club, where we try to get out of University City as much as we can. So far we’ve been to North Philly to volunteer at Philabundance, and to the art museum for an afternoon of taking artsy instagram photos of ourselves pondering the masterpieces. I’ve loved every minute of it so far. Adopting the YOLO mentality of course doesn’t mean we should completely drop our school and work obligations. It’s all about finding the balance between doing what you have to do and doing what you love every day.