During his first campus visit to attend UIdaho Bound Saturday, Stephen Best had trouble locating a building on his campus map.
“You’re upside down,” his father and University of Idaho alumnus, Tom Best, said.
Stephen turned the map around and easily found what he was looking for.
It was a learning experience for hundreds of families and future Vandals at last weekend’s UIdaho Bound, which helped admitted students take the next step to register for classes, housing and learn more about the opportunities offered at UI. For many, it was the first time they saw the campus in person.
“It’s really wonderful to come up and see the campus,” Stephen said. “It’s nice to see pictures online, but nothing compares with the experience of actually being here and, like, appreciating the magnitude of everything.”
Stephen is looking for a research university, and he said UI was his top choice for both its performance and its price.
“And I think it’s also the farthest from home that he could conceivably get,” Tom said.
Another future Vandal is going to school a little closer to home.
“We live in Moscow,” Cole Brusven said. “I’ll be living with my parents for the first couple of years to save on expenses and hopefully get through school without any debt.”
Brusven said it’s Moscow’s small size and friendly community that drew him to UI. His parents are both alumni and were glad he could stay close to home. He said he currently attends a smaller charter school in Moscow and looks forward to move on to UI.
“It’s gonna be kind of a cool transition going from such a small school to coming into a class where you have more people,” Brusven said. “So it’s gonna be an eye-opening experience.”
In the north concourse of the Kibbie Dome, future students registered for classes and housing and could learn about financial aid. Many had their Vandal Cards printed right there.
“It’s better than my high school senior picture,” said future student Mckenna Hull.
Hull is from Boise and said it was her third time visiting UI.
“I mean, being an Idaho student, I’ve always been interested in schools around here,” Hull said. “Just to stay with in-state tuition and UIdaho is the best school in Idaho, so I might as well come here.”
Her father, Adam, said she is his first child to go to college. He said he’s glad she’ll be on her own but not so far away he can’t visit if he needs to.
“I’ve been prepping by myself, staying strong. Until I’m by myself and then I’ll have a moment. It’ll be okay,” Adam said.
While their son registered for housing, Todd and Hada Wiltse took a backseat role.
“He’s making the choice himself. We’re just kinda watching,” Hada said. “That way we won’t have to be ones being blamed for like, ‘Oh, you told me. You pushed me.’”
Hada said the her UIdaho Bound experience was incredible.
“It was just very easy to get around and to ask questions to people who were knowledgeable,” Hada said. “You don’t think the kids would know that much that were guiding us, but they were so well prepared for it. They knew everything, every question we asked and they had an answer for it. It felt pretty good.”
Their son, T.J., said he enjoyed his visit.
“It’s been pretty good. I like the campus a lot. It seems very friendly and welcoming. I think it’s a great environment,” T.J. said. “The school spirit I noticed, it seemed to be kind of, family.”
Jack Olson can be reached at [email protected]