The Penn Stater Magazine

You’re Moving Where?

February 10, 2009 at 9:48 am Lori Shontz 1 comment

The dispatcher at the moving company took my name, address, date of move and the number of rooms in my apartment. Then she asked, “And where are you moving to?”

“State College, Pennsylvania,” I said.

Long pause. Very long pause.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

I laughed. I’m sure she thought I was a little crazy. I was calling from Miami, where it was about 75 degrees and sunny, and I was looking at the beach from the window of my home office. The temperature in snow-covered Pennsylvania was in the teens.

But none of that matters to me. I’m going home.

And Penn State is home. I wasn’t born there, but I definitely grew up there.

As a Penn State student, I made lifetime friends and connected with the professors and mentors who launched me into a fulfilling career in journalism. Later, as a professional living in State College, covering the university and its sports teams for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, I met my husband, also a Penn State grad. Our wedding photos were taken at the Nittany Lion Shrine.

I love the energy of a university and its community, and I can’t wait to get there and become part of that again.

Even if it means digging out my socks, sweaters and boots.

Lori Shontz, senior editor

Entry filed under: State College, The Penn Stater magazine. Tags: Miami, Nittany Lion Shrine, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.