The Journey to Become an Academic Weapon at Penn
Semester Abroad: Exchange at Penn
Hagje, one of the Exchange at Penn Correspondents, shares his experience here at Penn during the Spring 2026 semester. Follow along with the group of correspondents on our blog and look out for their images on the @exchangeatpenn Instagram feed.
4 months zoomed past while I was at Penn. It still feels like orientation day, just learning about the campus and walking around Locust Walk, knowing nothing about Penn. Now, I feel as if Penn and Philly are just a daily part of my life. Waking up, going to classes, meeting up with people in Commons to grab food, and going out in University City. Going out on the weekends to museums and walking around the city would be unforgettable. As I leave Penn, I want to reflect on one of the goals I had when I came to Penn. Knowing about Penn’s rigorous academics and research environment, I wanted to challenge myself by studying and researching in such an environment. I went straight into academics with some emotional support from Rocky.
To challenge myself, I intentionally stepped outside my usual comfort zone in science and took a history course and a business course alongside my two usual biology courses. This was a true challenge for me, as I usually have not done a lot of discussion-based learning, as most of the classes back home were lecture-based. The various requirements regarding participation and active discussion were first concerning, but after getting the hang of it, I acclimated to the discussion-based environment at Penn and started to contribute meaningfully to class discussions. This was a huge change I had throughout the semester, as I feel more comfortable participating, asking questions, and challenging myself to critically think about the topics compared to the start of the semester. My biology courses were also similar but different, as accessible resources like office hours and recitations allowed me to reinforce my learning outside of lectures. As a student, I have both grown intellectually and personally, and now I feel comfortable challenging myself to participate and engage in class. I also had some fun moments where I saw class content about Korean companies and felt it was funny seeing them in class. You’ll have to take the class if you want to learn what happened! No spoilers 🙂
Research was also a critical component of my experience. Penn’s interdisciplinary environment allows for collaboration between various departments that work together to conduct research. I worked at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to research pediatric immunology, and I felt the research culture was very good at Penn. Casual conversations with the professor, daily discussions with lab members about experimentation, cutting-edge research facilities, and equipment were all part of the great research experience I had at Penn. The translational research experience, where my research actually helped people around the world, felt meaningful and gave me purpose as a researcher. Even the Millenium Falcon supported me throughout my research.
Even though my schedule was tiring as I was going to the lab practically every day alongside all my courses (and my lab was at CHOP, so it’s a 15~20 minute walk from my dorm!), I feel that the research experience allowed me to get one step closer to my goal of becoming an independent researcher.
Overall, I feel like the rigorous, challenging academic environment alongside the great research capacity and culture allowed me to truly grow as a student and a researcher, and as someone who wants to go to graduate school, I feel that if I didn’t come to Penn, I wouldn’t have been able to access any of these resources and experiences. Penn is an environment that constantly allows you to challenge yourself to allow yourself to become a true academic weapon. Thank you, Penn, for helping me grow to become an academic weapon. Farewells for now, but I’ll see you again someday, Penn!