Penn State senior Aaron Klein never intended to run four of Penn State’s student sections. In fact, when he arrived for his freshman year, he didn’t even know they existed. 

Growing up in Maryland, Klein was surrounded by sports. He played soccer from a young age and spent his high school years as a goalkeeper. He also grew up an avid Maryland football fan and attended all of the Terrapins’ home games. 

“I grew up hating Penn State,” Klein said. “So I obviously didn’t really know a lot about this school.”

That changed almost immediately.

During his first week on campus, Klein attended the “Be Apart From the Start” event, where he first heard about Penn State’s student sections. Still, he had no plans to join one until one day, his friend Zoey dragged him to a Nittanyville meeting.

“I remember walking out of that meeting, and we sent a video to her mom, and we were so excited,” Klein said. “This was the coolest thing that this freshman could ever hear.”

That one decision eventually led to Klein’s involvement in four different student sections: Nittanyville, The Roar Zone, Park Avenue Army, and Legion of Blue.

Today, Klein serves as president of Nittanyville and Legion of Blue and vice president of Park Avenue Army and The Roar Zone.

For Klein, though, these titles are secondary. His real job is to connect the students with the athletes that they cheer for.

“I think one of the coolest things and one of the most important things to me is gaining the connection between the athletes and the students. If I can get people excited and attend Penn State sports games, then I’ve done my job,” Klein said.

At Nittanyville, that means managing Penn State’s most iconic student section while bridging the organization, the football team, and the coaches. That relationship has given Klein the opportunity to see the team from a different perspective, including visiting practices and interacting with players.

However, Klein’s responsibilities extend far beyond Beaver Stadium.

For the Park Avenue Army, Klein plays the drums and leads chants at Jeffrey Field. For The Roar Zone, he helps to create the atmosphere at Penn State hockey games. Finally, Klein serves a similar role with the Legion of Blue during the basketball season.

“Every student section that I’m a part of, and every student section on campus, has their own specific way of doing things, and that’s part of all the fun,” Klein said.

Despite the number of positions he holds, Klein doesn’t view himself as more important than the other members of the board. Instead, he believes the student sections work best when everyone has a voice.

“We don’t want to make it to where one person or opinion is put above everyone else’s. We want to make sure that the collective is accounted for, and not just the board opinions, but also the people who are participating in our sections,” Klein said.

That philosophy has helped Klein become a familiar face within Penn State Athletics. He has attended countless games across campus, sometimes sprinting between venues to catch pieces of multiple events.

Klein admits balancing academics with his student-section responsibilities has been one of his biggest challenges. He struggled during his freshman year to keep his coursework from falling behind because he was so excited about everything happening around campus.

Eventually, Klein realized that being constantly on the go required sacrifices in other parts of his life.

“I need to make sure my academic life is not failing because I want to have a recreational life, so that usually means my social life sometimes has to go,” Klein said.

Yet, Klein still says the effort has been worth it. His involvement has taken him to exciting places, including the Big Ten Championship game, the Orange Bowl, and the Pinstripe Bowl, where he won $35,000 by kicking a field goal at halftime.

“That would have never happened if it wasn’t for Nittanyville, so I owe Athletics everything,” Klein said.

In his final year in Happy Valley, Klein’s focus is shifting from building his own experience to preserving the experience for those who come after him. He doesn’t want the student sections to be his legacy, but rather his favorite college memories.

Klein’s biggest advice is to “just try everything, do everything, and let life happen.”

For the past four years, Klein has done exactly that, and whenever Penn State students are cheering, chances are he’s somewhere in the middle of it all.