Penn State World Campus Student Jason Lin’s Experience on Campus

What a great experience it was to visit the Penn State University Park campus — even on such a rainy day! I’m Jason Lin, a current Penn State World Campus graduate student majoring in Data Analytics. I came to Penn State to see RENT and to attend the Penn State World Campus Student Advisory Board In-Service Day. As soon as I arrived on campus, I knew my weekend was going to be a special adventure.

It didn’t take me long to figure out that the Penn State Berkey Creamery is the most popular spot on campus. They have the best ice cream in the state! While enjoying my frosty treat, I overheard some students talking about RENT, so I decided to go to the Eisenhower Auditorium and check it out!

Upon entering the auditorium, I found it was packed full, even though there was still one hour before the show. RENT was my very first Broadway experience in Taiwan, where I’m originally from, and was also one of the first shows I saw in the United States. I was amazed at how beautiful the theatre is. There were three levels of seating, and the stage had everything set up for the show.

RENT lasted for about two and a half hours. It was a completely different experience, not like anything I’ve seen before. I was astounded by the great performance given by such talented artists. Throughout the show, they embraced the beauty of the human spirit and reminded us to live for the moment, through many beautiful songs that resonated in my heart. The mesmerizing lighting and vivid scenes culminated in the climax of this show. At the end, I joined the rest of the audience in several rounds of standing ovations for the cast. I’ll always remember this performance at Penn State!

The following two days of my visit to the campus included a series of in-service sessions. Without a doubt, this was a valuable opportunity to get to know my school better, as well expand my network with other Penn State World Campus students. We gathered to brainstorm on how to improve the quality of online education and how to work with our virtual partners more effectively. More importantly, we were passionate about forming a strong community while keeping our individuality. At this point in the weekend, I suddenly understood the feeling of “We Are!” Penn State World Campus constantly seeks ways to connect students around the world to this wonderful community, in which we believe that people will help one another because we are all proud of being a part of it.

A weekend of visiting Penn State was indeed too short; however, a great memory can go a long way. I was glad that I seized this opportunity to get to meet my peers in person, and I enjoyed the moments of being a student at school. I can now proudly say, “We Are!”