It was Valentine's Day, and Awele Ajufo chose to publicly declare her love. The object of her affection? Not a person but a people.
"I wouldn't be where I am without Penn State Abington," she said after speaking at the student-run State of State conference. "I had the chance to tell 300 people why I am absolutely in love with Abington."
Organizers selected Awele, a Florida resident, to tell the story of her unique experience as a student outside of University Park, and she took the opportunity to urge all Penn State locations to unify.
"We are one university composed of 24 campuses," the Abington Student Government Association president told the crowd. "We should experience our entire university and embrace each campus's exciting differences while celebrating the commonalities."
Awele, a health policy and administration major, reflected on her experience at State of State:
"During my drive to University Park, my mind started to run wild. You are the only speaker who is not a senior and a sophomore at that (no pressure). You are the only student speaker from a campus (seriously, no pressure). You forgot your heels (great job)."
The morning of the event, I heard a very familiar voice. It was my adviser, Gina Kaufman, and my great friends Melissa, Irene and Maria. They left home at 5 a.m. to see me speak. Me. Little ole me. More of my friends showed up and my mother came from Florida.
Seeing them reminded me why I was there. There are so many incredible people within the Penn State community, and it spans way further than just one campus. Penn Staters are passionate, no matter where they are, and all of those who attended State of State from Abington are prime examples.