The whole campus is getting ready to welcome new students and welcome back those who are returning.
Welcome Week 2007 begins on Move-In Day, Friday, Aug. 24. As you register beginning at 8 a.m., attend a vendors’ fair and even catch a movie, The Number 23, at 10 p.m. Move-in Weekend is always a bustling time on campus as parents, families and friends help their Bobcats get settled in and spend some time on the campus with them.
Students will find out how much fun the UC Merced campus community is as they discover the many events and activity opportunities awaiting them during Welcome Week.
They’ll be able to picnic or boat at Lake Yosemite, check out Yosemite National Park with a group of new friends, take a shopping tour and even challenge a hypnotist to work his spell on them.
We put together some pretty terrific, diverse events this year, said Enrique Guzman, manager of Student Life programs. There’s so much going on, in fact, people should check the campus events calendar for complete information.
Here’s just a sample:
Graduate students will meet with faculty and staff at a wine-and-cheese social (the only event at which alcohol will be served). Those who prefer dice to daiquiris are invited to a non-alcoholic casino night.
- Aug. 25 events include a coffee and creative writing social with poet Steve Kramp, and a black-and-white graffiti party where students can express themselves on butcher paper.
- On Aug. 26, students can choose between a trip to Yosemite National Park or a tour of Merced, complete with shopping (you never know what you might find you need), a picnic and an old-fashioned ice cream social.
- School begins Monday, Aug. 27, but students will find plenty to do outside class, including recreation tours, volleyball games, a barbecue and a concert.
- On Aug. 28, everyone can munch at lunch during the Taste of Merced, try out for soccer or learn a little hip-hop dancing with the Intro Dance Group.
- The Bobcat Talent Showdown, where students will be both performers and judges, leads Aug. 29th’s events, after a health fair and the first Associated Students meeting.
- On Aug. 30, the welcome wagon will head on down the road to Modesto to take in some Modesto Nuts - that’s a baseball team, for you out-of-towners.
- On Aug. 31, interviews for on-campus jobs are scheduled, but people who’d rather play can get in on the faculty-and-staff versus students grass volleyball game, preceding the Volleyball Unolympics.
- Later that night, a hypnotist may try to turn you into a chicken. Don’t worry. It won’t be permanent.
