“It’s hard to know where to start with January. Outside of family, it’s impossible think of any other individual who had such a profound impact on my life. Transforming me from a naïve high schooler to a confident and excited young adult was a small miracle, and one which she achieved in only a few short years of working with me closely. From the day I got into Penn to well beyond the day I graduated, January was a wind that blew me in the right direction, an omnipresent source of structure, perspective, empathy, strength, and connection that I was lucky to have. 

“She’s basically mom” was the way Sneha described January on the cold and blustery admitted students’ day. Sneha, an older student also touched by January’s guidance, was geographically several thousand miles from home in Dubai, but coming, as I did, from a small town public school in Ohio, in many ways I felt just as far. Between daily classes, regimented sports practices, regular after school activities, and parents at home, there actually aren’t a ton of choices your typical high school senior makes, my former self included. Fast forward to a college freshman, and every choice is in their hands; from the mundane (whether to brush their teeth or do their homework) to the important (what major to choose, what post-grad opportunities to pursue), every choice is in the hands of an 18-year-old. January’s most valuable asset was her ability to provide a framework to these choices, a structure that made the big decisions digestible and the small decisions easy. Even before I started at Penn, January and I discussed my goals at college (to the extent I knew them) and discussed what classes and majors might fit this best – from day 1, she had a tentative picture of what my next four years could look like. This plan would change many times as my interests and passions changed, but it was always a guiding light, a sort of model for what I needed to be doing in my 4 years. As I started on my college journey, having both a plan and, more importantly, an ally from the outset was critical to overcoming the many trials that come in college.  

Facing new challenges can be daunting for a newly minted freshman – I still remember the tremble in my knees, the slight weakness I’d rarely if ever felt before, when I walked out of my first college math midterm. Math had always been my favorite and strongest subject; in fact, math was still my favorite and strongest subject in college – I’d go on to excel in graduate level courses in algorithms and statistics, but that first exam was a disaster. I certainly wasn’t going to go to my parents about it – I was barely 2 months in and things had been going well to this point. I didn’t feel comfortable going to another student either; with that, I somberly made my way to January’s office for advice. “In the big picture, if your life is this chalkboard, this speck of dust is that test”– right off the bat, her long-term perspective rang true. After a 45-minute chat, January’s ability to provide guidance and instill happiness turned my day (and eventually that class) around. Quite frankly, I had several friends who made much larger mistakes in college, some which endangered their broader Penn careers. January was always a rock for them, encouraging them to “play the long game” and see past obstacles. Even when the road got tough, January was always there with that perspective and thoughtfulness that meant no one ever left a meeting with her sad. 

An underappreciated challenging aspect of college is working with others who have different backgrounds from one’s own, and a honed sense of empathy is critical to working through this. In my first college job, a summer long TA-ship, I found myself on a disparate group of individuals who struggled to come together. Being for a summer class related to our program, January was an advisor to all of us, and several times in the first week January met with us to discuss how we could be more cohesive. There wasn’t one thing she said, but a series of this to implore us to better empathize and relate to each other. Eventually, it worked – we became a focused and well-oiled team, much more understanding of each other and better able to adapt to the future. This sense of empathy, the ability to see how others are thinking which January preaches and instills, is critical for both the low times and the high times of the college journey. 

Focusing on your strengths is something I strongly believe every college student, or perhaps every person, should do. Personally, I joke I’ve always been great at being curious and awful at letting things go. Whether overloading on extracurriculars or applying for too many types of jobs, narrowing things down has never come naturally. January was always there to keep me focused on my strengths, asking me which extracurriculars really connected with my identity and which jobs would be most fulfilling. As with class choices, January was structured in these discussions, asking me to write down what I thought of as my strengths, then carefully mapping these to the job choices I had. As result, I ended up choosing a job which perfectly fits my strengths (in particular, a job that sits at the intersection of my love for the Midwest, my passion for math / analytics, and my interest in real world business problems), and I’ve excelled right off the bat in my career as result. 

One last thing that makes January exceptional is her natural ability to connect a student with the right person to talk to– this right person to talk to is different person-to-person and situation-to-situation, so finding a match is quite nuanced. But, every time January referred me to someone else to speak to, it was spot on – sometimes it was someone who was a spitting image of me, ready to tell me to follow their footsteps; other times it was someone with a dramatically different point of view, ready to tell me to stop doing whatever it was I was doing. Not only did I get the additional advice I needed, but these connections provided invaluable practice at connecting with others and being a “good mentee”. Later in my time at Penn, I became January’s reference on a host of topics, allowing me to hone my own mentorship skills while helping others. Having given so much great advice, January was never shy to grease the wheels of paying it forward. 

In conclusion, I owe January a tremendous debt of gratitude. She’s had an immeasurably positive influence on my life and provided many of the great skills and traits which I now value. The only thing more astonishing, yet completely unsurprising, is that she did it for many others as well.”