It’s just another Friday for University of Idaho students. We’ll go to class, meet up with friends, maybe go out for a drink or two and sleep. But when we make our way through campus, and get tangled in a herd of high school students we realize it’s not just any Friday.
Today is the first of two UI Vandal Fridays this year. It is a day when students who are interested in attending our university come to campus and experience what we have to offer. They meet potential professors, Dean of Students Bruce Pitman and other faculty and staff. They can stay the night in campus housing and sample the dining options. And at the end of the day, hopefully they like what they see, hear and taste.
For them, it is exciting and the start of an adventure — they’re taking the first steps toward joining the college scene. And sometimes they are a little too enthusiastic for their own good.
The influx of people on campus can be annoying. If you’re the type of person who does not like additional bodies on campus, then do the prospective students a favor and avoid those areas. Anticipate that traffic flow will be higher on and off campus, and leave a little earlier or take a different route. The idea is to create a welcoming environment for our visitors.
Before you reach the brink of insanity, remember we were all once immature, unknowing freshmen wandering around campus trying to figure out how Brink Hall and Archie Finney are connected. By now, most of us have figured it out, found a home on campus and love the community established at UI and in Moscow.
The purpose of Vandal Friday is to show these potential students our community — not to be annoyed. It’s understandable that it can be frustrating with so many more people on campus, especially when you were looking forward to the weekend. The congestion of certain areas makes us late, which inconveniences our typical Friday routine. And then you add high school students everywhere and it’s enough to annoy and frustrate just about anyone.
But that’s not the point of today.
To us, it’s only a couple Fridays out of the year, but for them it’s one day to decide if they like UI and make a decision that could impact their entire future — let’s at least try to make a good impression.
— ER