She was six months old at her first Vandal football game. Eighteen years later, Leah Uptmor is starting at the University of Idaho as a freshman.
Uptmor said UI was the only college she applied to. Her father was a mechanical engineering student at UI during the “80s, so Uptmor always thought she would come to Idaho. When she visited on Vandal Friday, she knew this was where she wanted to go.
“I got that feeling in my stomach like, “OK, this is where I belong and this is where I am going to go to school,”” Uptmor said.
Uptmor joined the Kappa Delta sorority during Greek recruitment and said the sisterhood was a great way to get to know new people on campus. Last year she stayed with a friend in the Wallace complex and decided that res hall life was not for her.
“I had to have one leg out of the shower in order to shave (my legs),” Uptmor said with a laugh.
Uptmor is originally from Lewiston, Idaho. She participated in DECA, a student organization focused on marketing, while she attended Lewiston High School. Uptmor said she participated in DECA all three years and went to national competitions all three years for several different competitions.
University of Idaho freshman Leah Uptmor is a member of the Kappa Delta sorority. Her father was a Vandal during the ’80s and Uptmor has been a Vandal supporter since she was six months old.
Until Monday, Uptmor was a general economics and business major with a Spanish minor, but has since changed her mind about the Spanish minor. She hopes to take her education here and become a wedding planner or an event planner.
“I want to be that person that (brides) rely on,” Uptmor said, smiling. “To make someone”s dream come true.”
Uptmor said she is a huge football fan, especially the Vandals, and was upset that her house has a meeting during the first home football game. She also said she wished the game against New Mexico State was at home.
She said during orientation she was one of the only people who knew the Vandal fight song, and encourages other freshmen to learn the fight song as soon as possible.
“We do a huge family camping trip and we specifically have a Vandals camping night,” Uptmor said. “We all wear our Vandal Gear and sing the fight song, probably every half an hour, more than at any football game.”
Uptmor said her favorite thing about campus so far has been Hello Walk. During recruitment, she said a couple was taking their wedding photos out on the Administration Building lawn and she wondered if that could be her in 10 years.
“I”m excited to see where college is going to take me,” Uptmor said.
Claire Whitley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Cewhitley24