Faces of Philanthropy

Faces of Philanthropy

Pathway to Success: Summer Start (PaSSS) is already benefiting students like Madison Lazeration, one of the inaugural participants in the program who will enter her sophomore year at Penn State Altoona this fall. Here she talks about her first year as a college student, her plans for the future, and how PaSSS is shaping her Penn State experience.

Lazeratio
Madison Lazeration

Why did you choose to attend Penn State Altoona?

I saw it as the perfect transition to a college atmosphere. It’s not the biggest campus, but it’s also not the smallest. I wanted to have a more personalized experience.

Tell us something we might not know about life as a Penn State Altoona student.

You have to learn how to maneuver around the ducks at the pond. It seems like every time you’re trying to walk to class, they want to cross the sidewalk at the same time!

What attracted you to the PaSSS program?

The opportunities it offered. Starting in the summer gave me a chance to make friends. The program offered me a job, which helps to cover tuition expenses. PaSSS put me ahead of other freshman because in the fall I already had six credits and knew the campus very well.

How would your Penn State experience be different without PaSSS?

My freshman year would have gone completely differently. When I started in the fall, I had people to lean on. I had met professors that I felt comfortable going to with problems. I also knew the campus, so I didn’t feel like I was scrambling around.

What do you want to accomplish during your time at Penn State?

Madison Lazeration
Madison Lazeration

I want to take every opportunity that, I can. After I graduate, I don’t want to look back and wish that I’d studied harder or done things differently.

What do you hope to be doing twenty years from now?

I hope I’m working as a chemist. And I hope that I’m really happy with my job.

If you could create an endowment at Penn State, what would it support?

Tutoring. I think it gets overlooked because not every student needs it, but for the students who do need tutoring—including myself—it has a great influence on the outcomes of our work.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

My entire freshman year.

Fill in the blank: We are Penn State! And Penn State is ______ .

Home. As a Penn State student, that’s what the University makes you feel, that you are at home.

This story was originally featured in We Are: A Magazine of Penn State Philanthropy. View the full summer 2017 issue here.