Many of my fondest memories come from this brick and glass tower with letters that read Penn Bookstore forming its facade. In here, one of my closest friends met a European guy that would soon take her out on a date. In here, a professor and I occasionally met to discuss the dreams I have for my life. In here, I read paradigm-changing books that carved an impact on my relationships. In here, I spent the loneliest of my times in Philly. But, in here, I was happiest and most content, as every minute fleeted with the turn of every page in a book, so did my past mistakes and sorrows.
It's strategically-located at 36th and Walnut, it's hard to miss. Two blocks from the Engineering building where I did most of my courses. Two blocks from Huntsmall Hall (Wharton School) where I did all my homeworks. Two blocks from the Science Center where I did full-time for a biomedical start-up. And a little less than five blocks from my apartment at Pine St., but if home is where the heart is, it's never a single block away for it's so strategic, it's hard to miss.
Upto now, my impression of the place is vivid. It's a bookstore, a library, a coffee shop and a mall rolled in one. If you know me so well, those are all I need to complete a day. To me, nothing beats finishing a book just about the time you sip the last of your espresso, or lazing around the company of non-fiction until Peihiang signals it's closing time already.
But it's not the books but what you make out of them that matters. I have very great memories of Penn Bookstore because this is where I spend an evening after a depressing day at work. This is where I vent my frustrations- one a many books witness un-accomplishments and too many coffee cups of broken dreams. This is where I climb up and walk down from strained relationships, never walking out nor quitting a climb.
Most of all, this is where I made sense out of my life. Many people saw the big change in my character, but not how difficult it was. That's why Penn Bookstore is so important to me- it was the only one that saw my struggles. Of long-term goals and ambitions that eventually became "things that will make me happy." Of too many ideals that turned second to valuing relationships.
It was too much of a struggle because I was sent to the University of Pennsylvania to cut throat and be the best that I can be. But it was rewarding, at the same time, because there's a place like Penn Bookstore where I can be myself and prioritize the things that are more important to me. Three years after, they are the same things that keep me moving. They are not the laws that I made for my life, rather the passion that comes with them. And if you only look past the brick and glass facade of Penn, you'll know that is really what it's trying to tell you.
Laws without morals are in vain, UPenn motto
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