Mary Dever

C'19

Mary Dever is a student in the College, majoring in Urban Studies and minoring in Urban Education and Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies. She is pursuing multiple career options including public policy, education, and non-profit work.


L's Taken

4

Everyday L's of Life

  • My inability to get out of bed before 10:30am despite multiple alarms
  • Eating enough vegetables
  • Trying to juggle school work, job applications, my mental sanity, and social life #fail
  • Not making it to majority of the lecture events I RSVP'd to on Facebook

1

Failure That Seemed Like the End of the World Back Then But Don't Matter in Hindsight

  • Taking a medical leave my freshman year: It turned out to be one of my biggest blessings, allowing me to take a deep breath from school. It was the scariest and most jolting experience, but I am thankful for my concussions (not the pain, but you get my point).

5

Things I Swore I'd Finish But Never Did

  • Class readings (does it count that I saved some of them to finish after graduation?)
  • Folding my laundry
  • The books I listed in "books I've read for fun"
  • Many 30-day gym challenges
  • A minor in American Sign Language
On the Bright Side

3

Memories I Made When I Wasn't Studying/Working

  • Getting to listen to people like Kimberle Crenshaw and Anita Hill
  • Peaceful walks down Locust at night when the holiday lights are on
  • Dancing on The Parkway with the rest of the city when we had off for the Eagles Super Bowl Parade

3

Things I've Learned That Will Still Matter In 10 Years

  • I am enough without any of our accomplishments, simply by being me
  • Do *less* and simply *be* more
  • Trying to juggle school work, job applications, my mental sanity, and social life #fail
  • Finding a place that sells good breakfast sandwiches/*insert favorite comfort food* wherever you go is important

5

Books I've Read For Fun

  • My Grandfather's Blessings by Rachel Naomi Remen
  • A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
  • The Self-Love Experiment by Shannon Kaiser
  • All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
  • Becoming by Michelle Obama

2

Things I'm Proud of That You Won't See on a Resume

  • My medical leave freshman year
  • All the nights of self-care consisting of walks, talking with friends, and going home to relax

4

Unconventional Skills

  • Radical optimism (still working on it!)
  • Can cry during any Ellen video featuring ordinary guests
  • Blowing bubbles off of my tongue
  • Knows lyrics to all of Sam Smith's songs

4

Quirks That Make Me Who I Am

  • My love of donuts, my people, pretty skies, tropical green tea, and Princess Diaries
  • My Philly accent (yep, it's "wooder")
  • My passion for cities and all the people in them (esp. Philly)
  • Having about 20 siblings

3

Things I've Done That Pushed Me Out of My Comfort Zone

  • Taking a language I knew nothing about (American Sign Language)
  • Coming back to Penn after my medical leave
  • Traveling to Rwanda and London

1

Leap of Faith

  • Graduating counts, right? (because it's so exciting yet kinda terrifying)