The Great Wharton Adventure

Wharton Adventure – in our enthusiasm about joining a thrilling summer-camp at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, that was the name my friends and I gave our Whatsapp group. Counting down weeks, then days, then hours, finally we were at JFK Airport, amid lots of apprehensive, bright faces just like us.

Knowledge@Wharton Session C students gather at JFK airport

As we shook hands with each other, I instantly I felt it, and I’m sure many of my friends did too: we were going to have a rollicking adventure together, the kind of experience that lingers in your mind all your life.

Arriving at Penn, we settled down in our apartments, little knowing this place was going to be our second home. Our walks around the huge campus left us impressed. We chatted along Locust Walk, ate tacos and ice-cream, bought Penn merchandise at the great bookstore, played card games and pool, and formed our new families.

We were very lucky to meet each other: everyone was extremely friendly and kind, which resulted in hours of chatting and laughing every day.

In class with Alan Kerzner

Our days at Knowledge@Wharton High School were filled with rewarding lectures that would help us develop our business plans. With Alan Kerzner’s witty humor and his references to his career, we gained valuable insights on how to successfully market a product. Megan De Lena’s lectures strengthened our knowledge of financing and investment.

It was an honor to get such precious lectures from amazing people who are successful professionals in their fields, and I would like to thank them for everything they taught us on our KWHS journey.

This program became an intersection for lots of cultures. My Indian friends told me about their daily lives back home. I also got to learn Canadian vocabulary, Brazilian dances, and how to say my name in Bulgarian. And I taught my friends Turkish.

We got to visit downtown Philadelphia, and see attractions such as the Philadelphia Museum art and the US mint . We watched a fun baseball game. On our Washington, DC trip, we visited the elegant US Capitol, and got a glimpse of the the White House. Our last two days were spent in the “concrete jungle where dreams are made of”, as Alicia Keys sang about New York City. Times Square was fantastic.

So KWHS not only taught us a lot about business and economics, it also made us acquainted with diverse cultures. And we had fun together!

A great picture with great people. Credit to the photographer Can Conger!

Our group’s final business plan was about an electricity-generating bicycle that you can also make fitness adjustments on, with its innovative app. Having learned how a corporation works, we announced our company as Subchapter S, and presented our balance sheet, pricing options and marketing plan.

I can honestly say that this program has taught us about the business world step by step, and gave us the chance to be members of the executive team. As Chief Communications Officer, I talked about the mission of our corporation, “Safe & Swift”. It was a great experience creating our brand, and we all learned a lot, regardless of which team won.

As I said on our last day at Penn, it was very precious to see how we struggled to pronounce each other’s names on the first day, and now it was like we had found our long-lost families. It was great being in this program. I am extremely grateful for all friendships I’ve formed here.

I also want to thank our amazing chaperones Saloni, Amardeep and Rishabh, for always keeping an eye on us and also adding joy to this program.

Besides learning in and outside the classroom, we dabbed and dabbed and dabbed. So if you’re reading this, DAB one last time for Session C of the KWHS Global Young Leaders Academy: it was a great adventure, guys!

We dab everywhere, every day!

By Ezgi Okutan (16 years old, student at Robert College, Istanbul)

Click here to find out more about the Knowledge@Wharton High School Global Young Leaders Academy!