I love Penn State, I really do. As a small-town CT boy, the size of this school really should overwhelm me, but it hasn't at all.

In fact, last semester (Spring 2000) I was fortunate enough to have made Dean's List here, which seems like a pretty big deal, no? In order to be considered for Dean's List, you must have:

--3.5 GPA or higher
--Be a full-time student (meaning Fall or Spring Semesters)
--Take a minimum of 15 credits

I fulfilled all these requirements, and when I checked my grades at the end of the semester last year, and saw that I fulfilled those requirements, I was pretty happy, needless to say...and I think my mom was happier!

Usually, our newspaper hails local collegiate students who have made Dean's List at their respective schools. I didn't really care much about it, my mom was the one to tell people how I did, etc. Time passed, and I never did get in the paper, so my mom called someone here at Penn State and asked why I wasn't in the paper and was told that the information would be put in whichever newspaper I listed as my "home newspaper."

When would I have listed that??...

...Certainly not on my application! I have no idea when, where, or how I would have ever supplied such information. Some people like to put in their own things about their kids in the paper, but we're a bit more modest than that. Besides, I live in a small-enough town, so my mom probably hit them all up anyway ;-)

Also, I had a friend who, in the Fall 1999 semester, made Dean's List and was given recognition at a dinner sponsored by the school in which our major is housed when he returned in the Spring. As I recall, it took place early in the semester. I've been here a month, and haven't heard anything. Weird, huh?

I love Penn State, I really do...But how can a high-caliber university such as this expect to maintain its status when it doesn't properly follow through in rewarding its students? I know that I, like many others, am one who operates well when there are some little incentives involved. Just a little recognition is all I ask, it would mean a lot. Otherwise, I get a number that helps my cumulative GPA, and that's something this small-town CT boy didn't want...To be unable to escape the fact that I am just a number here.

After all, that was my big fear, being just a random digit, more or less...all I can wonder is...is it true?



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