The University of Connecticut welcomed its class of 2027 during a four-day move-in weekend filled with activities.
After months of quietness, the Storrs campus was brought to life by the 4,200 new students, from various states and countries.
According to UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz, freshmen came from 43 states and 92 countries. About 30% of the new students are the first-generation of their families to attend college.
Reitz also said that a record-breaking 47.5% of the incoming freshmen are students of color.
This year, again, the UConn application pool expanded with 48,800 applications and with 46,600 students applying for Storrs campus.
To help freshmen get adjusted to life on campus and moving in, many dorms have arranged activities. Justin Guinta, an RA for the first floor of Snow Hall, interacted with new residents throughout the move in. Prior to that, he and other RA’s prepared goodie bags and offered them to students.
Activities such as photobooth and floor meetings were organized, which, according to Guinta, helped students to get “to know each other through a variety of activities.”
He added that “the biggest conversation-starter was that students talked about what color they think English is in school.”
This move-in weekend was also filled with events organized by the UConn Student Activities and SUBOG, including the block party, the torching light convocation ceremony and the fire pits and glo swings.
Jayda Johnson, an incoming freshman who lives in Buckley Hall, felt indifferent because she did not know what to expect. As she spent her first night on campus she realized that she was in a new environment but has no regrets coming to Storrs.
“I have no regrets about going here, I always knew I wanted to be here and so far I’m impressed,” Johnson said.
Johnson is from Long island, New York, and is a computer science major. She wanted to go to UConn because she likes the opportunities offered by the School of Engineering, but also because she likes basketball and football.
For her, college is a great experiment so far. She thought she would be a little more nervous, however, she feels the WOW events helped her to meet people and she enjoyed going to them.
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“The block party and the bonfire was really fun because we got to meet people and that’s how I met the group of people I have now,” she said.
According to Johnson, she wishes that an event was organized for each individual school. In her case, the School of Engineering, so she could meet people from her department easily.
Her goal at UConn would be to do a research study, and also figure out what she really wants to do in her future.
“I know I like computer science and I know I want to stay in that, but you could do a lot of things with that so I guess I want to figure out where I will be heading,” she said.
Johnson hopes that in four years, she will be getting her starting job.
“Hopefully I will be making six figures, and then maybe going back to school to get my masters in computer science and then after, I don’t know, I haven’t figured out that far,” she said.
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