This summer, the UTSA Main Campus will be charged with a surge of energy. Thousands of new students will join the Roadrunner family at Freshman Orientation, held over nine weekly, three-day sessions beginning today.
Orientation, a milestone in each new student’s journey, helps ’Runners become Rowdy Ready for the fall. It’s an exciting experience that lets freshmen and transfer students see what it means to be a Roadrunner, meet other incoming students and meet their academic advisors.
Orientation leaves an impression on UTSA students—one that still shows even after years have passed.
“I’ll never forget my Orientation experience. It introduced me to the person who later became my best friend,” said Taylor Waits, now a senior communication major who represents the student body as Ms. UTSA.
At Orientation, freshmen will go on campus tours, get their UTSA ID card and register for fall classes. They’ll preview their first year at UTSA while their families attend concurrent programs to help them adjust to having college-bound children.
New to Freshmen Orientation this year is Rowdy Rally, an event that will be held on the second night to give Roadrunners a chance to show off their school spirit and learn about UTSA Athletics. At Rowdy Rally, they’ll meet Rowdy, learn the fight song and show off their school pride.
Also new at Orientation this year, every Roadrunner will receive an orange feather to symbolize how, despite coming from different backgrounds, they are all birds of a feather and are welcome at UTSA. All different. All Roadrunners.
While new UTSA freshmen are required to take Orientation in-person, transfer students have the option of taking Orientation online or attending a one-day session over the summer. Students who take Orientation online will receive their feather when they pick up their Orientation t-shirt and backpack from the Orientation and Family Programs Office (MS 2.01.10 on the Main Campus).
“My Orientation experience was eye opening,” said Allyson Petersen, a junior at UTSA studying history. “It gave me a sense of relief and comfort knowing that I had been adopted into this new family at UTSA. From the first day I stepped on campus for Orientation, I knew this was home.”