Last Wednesday Professor Peter Struck, Faculty Director of BFS, spoke to a Hall of Flags teeming with energy. Freshmen turned out en masse for the BFS Convocation, bearing questions and excitements about the BFS program. Before Professor Struck took the podium, students had an opportunity to hear from each school's BFS Administrator. Each faculty member gave the students in their specific program crucial information and advice about how to be successful.
In his address, Dr. Struck touched on some of the unique components of BFS: classes that help you fill general requirements in a meaningful way; the BFS research presentation requirement; special research funding; and seminars, taught by top faculty, with few prerequisites, that are intended to provide students the freedom of intellectual exploration. His talk, and the talks of the other faculty members, embodied the ethos of Benjamin Franklin Scholars: ideas are valuable for their own sake.
The event also featured a panel of veteran BFSers, eager to welcome the freshmen and put to rest some of their uneasiness. Students on the panel discussed their favorite BFS seminars, shared time management advice, and encouraged the freshmen to explore the wealth of extracurricular activities at Penn.
Eliana Salmon, your UAB President, put out an invitation to students of all class years and schools to apply for the UAB. You can find the application here. Applications close on September 8th.
We are delighted to have welcomed a new cohort of enthusiastic freshman to Penn's campus and to BFS. We encourage you all to stay engaged because there are many more exciting events to come!
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