A letter from alumna Madison Dastis

I remember hearing the words “We are Penn State” for the first time. I was a junior in high school, visiting Penn State University Park for the first time. I was on a tour of the campus when my tour guide shouted the usual greeting at some students. I remember being surprised that students actually acknowledged tour guides, as tour guides were always ignored at other schools I had visited. This was one of the many traits that drove me to choose Penn State in the end.

As an out-of-state student, I didn’t know anyone else attending Penn State. As a first-year student, I quickly found my niche in one organization: Science LionPride. All of the members were from the Eberly College of Science, and as a result, we were in a lot of the same classes. We bonded over giving science-specific tours to prospective students, serving the surrounding community through science education and THON, and working with science alumni. It was here that I met one friend who changed my life. 

We were discussing how much we enjoyed helping people, after a service event one day, when she told me what career she was pursuing. Little did I know, two little words uttered by a friend would so drastically change my life: physician assistant. I recalled my father having both hips replaced at the same time, one by the surgeon and the other by a physician assistant (PA). As she explained why she wanted to become a PA, I became more and more intrigued. 

It was soon after (and after a lot of research) that I told my academic advisor/professor/mentor, Dr. Jennelle Malcos, that I wanted to become a physician assistant. With her guidance, I took extra classes outside of those required for my Biology major and Psychology minor to fulfill the prerequisites for applying to a master’s degree program. She told me about various opportunities to further my education and obtain the direct patient contact hours I needed. Through all of my struggles in my undergraduate career, Dr. Malcos never gave up on me. Many other faculty members, friends, and mentors guided me along my way—all of them Penn Staters and almost all of them involved in the Eberly College of Science.

My first day at Salus University as a physician assistant student was completely different from my first day as a Penn State student. I walked into the classroom with my roommate, a fellow Penn State alum, whom I had actually met for the very first time at a Salus event. At the end of the first day, Salus was calling alumni of certain universities to take a group picture. When they called Penn State, about a third of the room stood up. I smiled and knew that no matter how hard the program might become, I would be OK.