UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — On a trip to State College for the Penn State-Maryland football game this past weekend, Penn State World Campus students Michael Thorgersen and Elizabeth Cellucci tailgated and stopped by the Berkey Creamery for ice cream.
They also had the chance to run across the field at Beaver Stadium.
The two students represented World Campus in the All-University Day ceremony on Saturday (Nov. 1) during the football game, and they carried the World Campus banner across the field for the halftime ceremony that recognized Penn State's 24 campuses.
“Words cannot describe how proud, honored and excited I was to represent the Penn State World Campus as a banner carrier,” said Thorgersen, who made his first trip to State College for the game. “It is absolutely a dream come true.”
Thorgersen had worked on Wall Street for a decade, but the financial crisis of 2007-08 had a profound impact on him. He wanted to reinvent himself by doing something more fulfilling, he said, and he had always been intrigued by foreign policy and international relations.
That’s what led Thorgersen to pursue a bachelor of arts in political science online through Penn State’s World Campus.
“While I did explore other options, the quality of education, faculty, alumni network and the sense of community that other online universities could not offer made Penn State an easy decision,” Thorgersen said. “My experience has been nothing short of amazing.”
Thorgersen hopes to use his degree working as an analyst in international relations, and he has his eyes on work with the State Department or non-governmental organizations.
For Thorgersen, the visit to Penn State brought him full circle. He’s already taken advantage of the University’s broad alumni network to make connections, and he helps mentor new students through the Penn State World Campus Alumni Ambassador program.
While Thorgersen was visiting State College and Penn State for the first time, Cellucci is no stranger to campus and the football stadium. She received her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 2012 and was excited to return to campus for the first time since graduation.
Cellucci works as a systems engineer for Vencore Inc. in Chantilly, Virginia, and is in the first semester of the master of engineering in systems engineering degree through World Campus.
She was first exposed to the program while interning as an undergraduate when her mentor at Lockheed Martin told her about it.
“I absolutely loved attending Penn State as an undergraduate student and am a huge Penn State fan, so when I learned that Penn State offered an online master of engineering in systems engineering degree through the World Campus, I knew from that moment I wanted to enroll in this program,” she said.
A master’s degree is essential for advancement in her career, she said, and she wanted the flexibility of learning online in a way that worked with her job’s schedule.
“Living and working in northern Virginia, I didn’t want to have to commute to a local university campus every week to attend class in person, so that’s why being able to complete the degree online was a must,” said Cellucci, who praised her World Campus professors as engaging and responsive to her and her fellow students.
Thorgersen and Cellucci were among the nearly 200 people who attended a pre-game tailgate on Saturday for World Campus students, their guests and faculty, which is an annual tradition for the All-University Day event.