Re-adjusting to school is always a struggle after spring break. Most students are probably preparing to celebrate the end of a stress-filled week. An influx of about 800 high school students might seem a threat to your Friday celebration, but in reality, it’s an opportunity to showcase the University of Idaho’s finer qualities. Today is the first Vandal Friday of the year — a day when potential future Vandals explore the place they might call home during the next chapter of their lives.
High school seniors will have the opportunity to attend information sessions, meet with advisers, register for classes and tour campus. They will also have the option of staying in a Greek house or residence hall.
The ultimate goal is for them to like what they see and return in the fall.
Sure, it can be annoying to maneuver through a larger crowd to get to class, or stand in a longer line at Starbucks. And it’s no secret high school students can be too eager for their own good at times. But it’s an exciting day for them. College contains some of the best experiences in life, and today is their first step toward it.
The bottom line is it’s our job to make a good impression.
Before we are quick to judge, try to remember when the tables were turned. It wasn’t long ago we were Vandal Friday attendees or doe-eyed freshmen, unable to understand the Teaching and Learning Center and Commons are one building.
So if someone asks a question or appears lost, we should swallow our frustrations and pleasantly answer or point them in the right direction. It’s crucial we stay on our best behavior and remember we’re representing something larger than ourselves.
We are representing something many of us are proud of, and today is an opportunity to show off our university.
It’s one day of inconvenience for us, but for incoming students attending Vandal Friday, the impression we make could affect their entire future.
–BK