“Where are you from?”
It’s the question that looms in every awkward small-talk interaction, the saltine cracker of conversation starters. Usually, it earns the expected response: a suburb in New Jersey, “the Bay,” or maybe even London or Singapore.
Sometimes, though, the answer is Claysburg, Pa. Or Cromwell, Okla. Or any other small town so different from Philadelphia that its University City district feels as foreign as any study abroad destination.
At a school that prides itself on a global perspective, it is easy to imagine everything in international terms. But for students from rural America, arriving at Wharton can also feel like crossing a border.
When Lauren McDowell, W’27, entered the auditorium for Business Ethics & Public Policy 1000 her first year, she realized the students in the room exceeded the population of her hometown.
According to McDowell, Cromwell, Okla., is “mostly a collection of driveways on the side of the highway.”
“We got a Dollar General in my senior year, but other than that, there’s absolutely nothing in it,” she says, adding that there isn’t even a single stoplight.
McDowell graduated with 16 classmates, most she had gone to school with since kindergarten. Eight went to college. Journeying to the East Coast, she found life at Wharton completely different from the tight-knit community where she had grown up.
“The transition of not being known — after 19 years of everyone knowing everything about me — was pretty difficult,” she recalls.
Penn First Plus (P1P) supported McDowell’s adjustment to Penn. P1P is designed to provide comprehensive support services throughout a student’s time on campus, including academic preparation and mentorship.
“People often assume that P1P is monolithic,” McDowell says. “But my closest friends [from P1P] are very different from me in beliefs, background, and language.”
As McDowell became more involved in Wharton’s Undergraduate Communication Program and a former version of the Successful Transition & Empowerment Program (STEP), she gained more confidence in shaping her own Wharton experience.
“You make Wharton what you need,” she says. Remembering her difficult transition, she began mentoring fellow rural students, ensuring they have the tools to gain ownership over their time at school.
Nonetheless, the Oklahoman hasn’t forgotten her hometown. Interested in policy, McDowell remains steadfast in tackling the issues she experienced, both in Philadelphia and places like Cromwell.
“I wish that I had more of a connection to my hometown and helped students there,” she says. “But I think that’s something I’ll work on in the years to come.”
The first exam Cameron Claycomb, W’28, ever took in his life was the SAT. The second — a midterm his first year at Wharton.
“I studied for two, three days, and completely bombed it,” he says. “That was a moment where I realized I had to get tutoring and start looking at outside resources.”
From Claysburg, Pa., Claycomb found the transition from high school — where he graduated alongside 49 students — to Penn’s academic rigor initially very challenging.
“Going into Math 1070, they covered all of my math classes in high school in one day,” he recalls. “I never learned anything past first-level derivatives.”
Claycomb eventually came up with a “playbook” to manage his course load. As the Pennsylvanian picked up on broader structures, such as participation-based versus exam-based classes, he observed his classmates.
“You can kind of see by the second week who is really understanding the material,” Claycomb says. “Just asking them what they’re doing to succeed is really helpful.”
Besides the learning curve, Claycomb describes his time at Penn as incredibly collaborative and fulfilling. Like McDowell, he found community by joining clubs with members who share his values of empathy and respect.
“[My upbringing] instilled in me the importance of understanding that everyone comes from different walks of life,” he says. “Finding people to surround yourself with that share the same values is so important.”
As a people-person, Claycomb never found it difficult to build connections with others and currently sees Wharton’s community as constantly willing to support peers. While life on campus is more go-go-go than back home, Claycomb believes that the connections he’s made will enable him to achieve his goals.
“People really want the best for you.”
Coming from Zumbrota, Minn., third-year RJ Sylak, W’27, noticed one thing immediately when he arrived: the sheer amount of honking on Philadelphia’s streets.
“My parents and I joke about it every time they come,” he says. “They’ll be saying hi, and someone will honk their horn, and I’m like, ‘Yup, you’re back in Philly.’”
Having grown up in a mainly agricultural town, Sylak also found clear differences between what he described as the “farmer mentality” and the perspectives dominant on Locust Walk and in Huntsman Hall.
“When I arrived, I said I was going to meet everybody at Penn,” Sylak says. “I was talking to…basically everyone everywhere.”
However, Sylak quickly realized the gargantuan scale of his task.
“People told me it was impossible. But I knew pretty much everyone in town,” he says of Zumbrota’s 3,700 residents. “If you think about it, the size of Wharton, 2,400 [undergrads], is smaller than the town I grew up in.”
As co-chair of the reimagined STEP program, Sylak helps ensure new students get the support they need at Penn.
“Every year, there are upper-level students who have been through this before, and they can tell you everything that you need to know,” he says of STEP leaders and incoming students.
As a person who grew up steeped in personal connection, Sylak has found a community willing to embrace him and help him grow.
“That’s what brought me here,” he says. “Out of all the things that set Wharton apart, it’s the people we’re surrounded by every day.”
By Alan Li, W’28
Posted: June 29, 2026
