FRESH PERSPECTIVES
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design | writing
SUDEEP BHARGAVA photography
RYAN BUSH writing
MARIA DIAVOLOVA
EMMA O’NEIL photography
TAMARA PRABHAKAR editor in chief | design
MORGAN REES photography
SNEHA SHARMA
managing editor |design
writing
SUZAN KIM
MICHAEL SHEN
writing
painting
MURIEL LEUNG
ELAINE TAY
managing editor | writing
photography
SYDNEY LOH
YIHAN WANG
photography
design
TEAM
ANJALI BERDIA
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FILL IN THE GAPS Letter from the Editors
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n this transitional phase of our lives, we have realized the transformational significance and invigoration of uncovering the fresh perspectives of the people and places around us. Entering and embracing unfamiliar circumstances build towards our own understanding and empathetic practices in ongoing encounters, which ideally inspire us to experience more. Following the stories of our contributors, we hope this book inspires you to challenge routine, keep judgements dynamic, and never stop being curious.
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FRESH
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Emma O’Neil
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spent a Saturday afternoon exploring the farm to market concept in the urban Philadelphia space. Growing up in LA, I would visit my local farmer’s market every week, and as I grew older, I developed more of an appreciation for the beautiful, fresh food that surpassed the quality and value of store-bought produce. I enjoyed engaging with the vendors regularly and always looked forward to seeing the same friendly faces. Adventuring off of Penn’s campus, I connected and gained an understanding of a new community of farmers while admiring the fresh foods and uncovering the stories and motivations from a new set of vendors. I stopped in Rittenhouse to see their weekly Saturday growers only market, meaning everything for sale is locally produced on a farm. From endless varieties of apples to beds of micro greens to fresh kale and vibrant peppers, the food reflected the delicious creations of the earth as well as the passion, the knowledge, and the care of the farmers who worked to bring it from the fields to Center City. 07
“My dad started the orchard when I was about five, so I grew up doing this. We enjoy growing fruit, but what really makes it more rewarding is to take it directly to the customers rather than selling it wholesale to the grocery stores. It’s a nice fiftyfifty combination with the opportunity to be with people and by myself when I pick fruit on the orchard.�
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“ We try not to make our customers pay more for locally-sourced food. If we can give somebody something that’s locally for the same price as they’re getting it shipped across the country, I feel like that’s a win for both parties.”
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HERE WHERE NOW Sudeep Bhargava 10
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RESCOPING PHILADELPHIA Suzan Kim
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ot many college graduates get to experience—let alone live and work in—their university cities after they throw off their graduation caps. Erica Louie, a 2017 UPenn graduate, shares her fresh perspective on Philadelphia as a recent addition to it’s working population. After graduating with a political science degree, Erica started as a full stack data analyst at Fishtown Analytics, a consulting company focusing on startups in the tech industry. A Chinese Jamaican that grew up in a primarily white neighborhood, Erica shares with IMPACT her experiences as a Penn student, a minority, an aKDPhi sister, a graduate, an employee, and a Philadelphia resident. 30
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How do you feel about the industry you’re currently in? Has it been fulfilling? My job mostly involves setting up tech start ups with a strong foundation. Even though I’m temporarily a corporate sell out (consulting is completely different than what I intended to do) working in the tech industry has been very rewarding in terms of intellectual growth. It’s also interesting to be such a minority—women of color are rare in my industry.
In what ways has your demographic affected your experience? The tech industry is populated with a lot of older white males. This is a generalization but I’ve noticed that there are subtle ways my clients have shown their lack of confidence in my abilities. Many of these individuals are CTOs (Chief Technology Officers) of their companies and don’t initially trust what I say. For example, if my co-worker is on the phone, my clients tend to take what he says more seriously. A lot of women in the tech industry probably feel this way.
Have you ever experienced anything similar during your college years? 32
Similar to UPenn, the tech industry is saturated with individuals from upper class families, especially because an overwhelming majority of people in my line of work had access to higher education. Although these are huge generalizations, I’ve found that people coming from backgrounds of privilege tend to be a little more off-putting. That being said, I think people my age are easier to work with— there’s a distinct generational gap. However, its largely difficult to compare my life then and now, because there weren’t too many male-dominated areas I engaged in at Penn. I didn’t feel any sense of inequality when working on group projects or during my political science classes; I only ever felt my voice ever being overlooked in Wharton classes, and only to a small extent. I do feel that my life at Penn is probably only reflective of a niche subgroup of possible experiences, especially because I sought out other minorities. One of my main extracurriculars was alpha Kappa Delta Phi, where I found myself becoming close friends with many other women of color.
What is Alpha Kappa Delta Phi and what does it mean to you? Alpha Kappa Delta Phi is one of two asian interest sororities on campus, and I found it to consist of a group of strong women that supported me in ways I didn’t know I’d ever need supporting and that connected me with people I never imaged meeting. When I was
first considering joining aKDPhi, I realized I wanted to understand not only what it means to be a woman, but also what it means to be an asian woman. I grew up with a Jamaican mother in a predominantly white area, and spent the majority of my time with male friends. Among other things, I think aKDPhi turned me into a calmer, more accepting person. For me, one of the most important parts of being in this multicultural greek organization is that it taught me how to love being a multicultural person. There’s something so special about being connected to a campus full of individuals who also feel the weight of having complex identities - it made me feel like I was part of so much more than a single sorority.
Did your understanding of your multicultural background change after entering college? Growing up in a white neighborhood, I think a part of me had always wanted to be white. Penn was the first time I realized how essential it is to cling onto things that make you stand out. I realized what a privilege it is to be one of the few Chinese Jamaicans in the world, and it made me want to represent myself. Accepting and exploring my racial / ethnic background also made me thankful for small details in my upbringing that I had taken for granted as a child. Many of my Asian friends at
Penn had very strict parents, and some seemed to share an arms-length relationship with their parents. I began to appreciate my mother’s expressive way of showing love.
In what ways has your year out of college changed your outlook on where you live? 33
I’ve reflected on this year quite a bit, and in particular what community means to me. I moved from West Philadelphia, a cultural melting pot, to Fishtown, a predominantly white area. My current location is relatively much less diverse, and it made me take a step back and think about Philadelphia as a whole. I think it’s fantastic that Philadelphia is a minority-majority city. I often pass a high school with mostly minority students, and seeing the children enter and leave makes me want to engage in the community. Philadelphia has such a rich and great mix of culture and food and art and people. Also, I live right next to Kensington, arguably the drug capital of Philadelphia. Suddenly, crime, homelessness, poverty, and all sorts of social issues have become a lot more tangible. I’m still figuring out my position in all of this, but I’d really like to give back in some meaningful way.
Where do you see yourself in the future? Where would you like to be and what would you like to be doing? I want to feel like my existence is creating a net-positive. I’d love to work with women who have kids that come from low-income and other vulnerable situations, and guide them in their professional pursuits. I think helping those in need by pointing individuals to services that can help them really resonates with me. Working in the tech industry is great but I 34
don’t feel like I’m making a social change yet. For now, I want to raise money, awareness, and knowledge in my field so I’m more capable of contributing to nonprofits. I definitely have big dreams though.
That’s amazing. Let’s end on your fresh perspective: what is one college memory you have that you have a different attitude towards, now that you’ve graduated? I was going through a rough patch my sophomore year, and often felt the need to get out of the Penn bubble. I used to love walking through Old City or Center City--to me, Philadelphia was beautiful. I’ve realized now though, that those areas alone are not Philadelphia. South Philly is Philly. Philly is filled with really gritty areas, that only certain types of people can thrive in and come to love. There’s so much more to Philadelphia than the tourist areas, that I had to seek out to find and understand. The people here are amazing; have a conversation with any Lyft or Uber driver, or any person in the street, and you’ll see that. There’s an authenticity in the grime that I had entirely missed. Philadelphia is such a realist city, because what you see is what you get--and it is beautiful. 35
30th to 56th St Elaine Tay
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t started out as an interest in the disparity between the Penn bubble and West Philly right at our door steps. Just from hearsay, my first impression was that people who lived so physically near seemed to live in such different worlds. There seemed to be a fear amongst students of going further down into West Philly. Was their fear justified? How was West Philly really like? This burning curiosity, or desire for exploration, whatever you call it, has always been part of my genes as far as I know. Since young, I have always scouted out places near home. 41
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Underground levels, locked rooms, back alleys – places people don’t often see or hear of. I love this sense of novelty and adventure, a sense of encroaching upon something unknown and not knowing what you’re going to discover. When I grew older, this love for exploration expanded
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beyond discovering physical places to uncovering stories uncommonly heard. I don’t have a long time here – I’m a Singaporean exchange student here for a semester. Three and a half months ago, I arrived in America for the first time. With such a short time here, I 45
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wanted to see as much as I possibly could. I’ve already travelled 9,495 miles here, might as well right? So, I took on this project because it gave me a reason to do what I love – explore. It gave me an excuse to push myself out of the bubble, take a look at a different community and see what I would find. I chose West Philly simply because… students don’t normally 48
go there. They have a hearsay idea of it, but they don’t know what it’s really like there. And one thing I’ve learnt about myself recently? I’m not particularly fond of keeping to what’s safe. It’s the same reason why I chose to come to America on exchange – alone, instead of joining some friends. So there I went, and here’s what I saw.
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