The University of 缅北禁地 Springfield will welcome hundreds of new first-year students to campus during seven KickStart Orientation sessions this summer.
The two-day overnight events help students understand UIS requirements, gives them a chance to meet their fellow classmates and learn their way around campus.
鈥淪tudents get information about student accounts and billing, meal plans, financial aid and academic exceptions,鈥� said Lisa McGuire, UIS director of new student orientation and parent relations. 鈥淭hey have an opportunity to interact with their peers and have a little bit of fun.鈥�
Cameryn Hodges, an incoming freshman from Belleville, is looking forward to starting her college education at UIS.
鈥淚'm excited to meet a lot of new people and to find out a lot about the opportunities,鈥� she said. 鈥淚'm just excited to meet the new people before I actually start school and so then I know some people."
Fatima Velasco, an incoming accountancy major from Waukegan, says she chose UIS because 鈥渋t gave me the most financial aid and also it was in state.鈥�
For other students, such as Ben Norris and Elie Krasnican, it鈥檚 hard to believe that high school is over and they鈥檙e starting a new chapter in their lives.
鈥淚t's kind of settling in, you know, I'm realizing I'm actually going here. I'm going to be walking these sidewalks soon, going to classes, so it's really hitting me,鈥� said Norris.
鈥淚 was ready to get out of high school, so I'm really excited to come here, but just walking around and stuff it starts to, you know, like set in and I'm like oh my goodness I'm actually going to go here,鈥� said Krasnican.
McGuire says that UIS expects a large incoming freshman class this year, which means they鈥檝e had to add an additional orientation session.
鈥淭his will be probably our biggest first-year class ever in the history of the University,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e've only been admitting first-years since 2001. We had to open up our July 15th and 16th session and so it's already half full, so as we continue to admit students and students continue to accept admission we've got a spot for them.鈥�
For more information on orientation, visit .