Student Experience

UVA’s ‘hype girl’ welcomes new Hoos

Monday kicked off the first of 10 orientation sessions for incoming members of the University of Virginia’s Class of 2030.

Summer Orientation, typically a two-day affair that includes an overnight stay in a dorm, allows new Hoos to meet current students, tour Grounds and enroll in courses.

Soon-to-be first-year students Jood Boker and Jenna Said will not only take on the University side-by-side, but they also rolled up to orientation together. Boker and Said met seven years ago when they started the sixth grade at the same Northern Virginia school. They’ve been friends since.

“It’s good knowing I’ll have somebody to do all those firsts with,” Boker said.

The first day of classes, their first home football game, and a host of other UVA traditions await them. But Said is most looking forward to her first Lighting of the Lawn with her childhood friend.

Portrait of Jenna Said(left) and Jood Boker (right) pose for a photo outside Old Cabell Hall.

Jenna Said, left, and Jood Boker, right, pose for a photo outside Old Cabell Hall. The two have been friends since childhood and will start their first year at UVA in August. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

“I know so many older students who talk about their stories from Lighting of the Lawn, and I’m just so excited,” she said of the December tradition.

Associate Dean of Students Tabitha Enoch, the self-described “UVA hype girl,” welcomed the new students to Grounds. Student orientation leaders and a handful of incoming students joined Enoch onstage inside the Old Cabell Hall auditorium for a couple of line dances as she hyped up the crowd.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Enoch said. “I’m sure there are many reasons why you’re here, but my sense is that at some point, you discovered something special about UVA that drew you to us.”

Calling the Class of 2030 the “brightest in UVA history,” Enoch listed some statistics that make the University’s newest students special. About 90% of the Class of 2030 graduated in the top 10% of their high school class. Some are nationally ranked in pursuits ranging from gymnastics to horseback riding to chess. One built a resale business on eBay, earning more than $30,000. Another summited Mount Kilimanjaro.

“I say this every year, and it is true every year: I cannot wait to see how you bring those abilities to the University of Virginia community, and I cannot wait to see how you will shape the University,” Enoch said.

Take a look at some photos from the first orientation session.

Student holding a colorful 'Silvana' welcome sign during an outdoor campus orientation.

Orientation leader Silvana Newcomb holds up a sign for incoming students in her orientation group on the Lawn. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

Students gather on a university lawn in front of a domed academic building.

New students disperse on the Lawn to find their orientation leaders. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

Three students smiling during a campus orientation event.

Orientation leader Carolina Martínez Alvarado, right, shares advice on everything from time management and dorm life to campus resources with incoming first-year student Mia Bencal, center, and others during orientation. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)