>> I had an unbelievable experience at Penn State.
Penn State was the first community that I truly felt a part of.
When I came here -- I always tell the story of the --
my first time coming to tour Penn State when I was a senior in high school.
I got invited to an ugly Christmas sweater party by a few of the students that were there.
And, I said to my parents -- no, I'm not really interested.
I don't think I'm going to go here.
And they said -- no, you should go, and you should just get a feel for it.
And, it was there, you know, holding a red Solo cup that I knew
that Penn State was the place for me.
And, it wasn't the party.
It was the fact that those students felt so much community with each other and so much community
with potential future students, that they took it upon themselves to invite me
to something that they really didn't need to.
And, they included me in that process.
And, they made me feel as though I was part of that family.
It's always been a family for me, here at Penn State.
And so, that connectivity -- that tie that people have in their association
with the university is something that's very, very important to me.