Guess Hoos back? Fall semester begins

Student Experience

Guess Hoos back? Fall semester begins

Sunny skies and mild temperatures marked the first day of classes at the University of Virginia on Tuesday. Grounds buzzed with new-school-year excitement.

“I was studying abroad in the spring, so it’s been a really long time since I’ve been in the same classroom as my friends. I’m really looking forward to that,” said Emma Hartman, a fourth-year student and Lawn resident.

Before her first class of the day, on 17th-century women’s writing in Spanish, Hartman enjoyed Bodo’s Bagels with her fellow Lawnies.

Best friends Sayonee Patel and Sheree Saad were the first students in line for University Communications’ first-day-of-classes photo booth. The engineering students met through the Clark Scholars program before their first year.

“We haven’t seen each other since last year, since she’s from Texas and I’m from Virginia, so we planned this out,” Saad said.

Besides catching up and forming new memories, they’re hoping to accomplish some academic goals this semester.

Four students pose outdoors holding decorative frames, with one student holding a foam finger.

Left photo: from left to right, Zyanya Aguilar, Luis Alvarado, Lola Fuller and John Myles-Mills pose together for a photo. Right photo: first-year student Avery Uhle poses with a #UVA30 frame at a University Communications photo booth. (Photos by Erin Edgerton, University Communications)

“I want to crush orgo,” Saad said, referring to organic chemistry, a required course for biomedical engineering students.

The first day of the semester started early for first-year student Avery Uhle. She had a calculus class at 8:30, then went to meet friends on the Lawn.

“I did the bridge program over the summer, so I knew a lot of the people in my class already and felt super comfortable,” Uhle said. The School of Engineering and Applied Science offers a free, three-week bridge program to help students transition from high school to college.

Student in a suit and headphones smiles and gives a thumbs-up in a campus hallway.

Isaiah Henley, a Lawn resident and member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, walks down the West Lawn. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

That comfort is helping her dive right into extracurriculars at UVA after exploring some options at Monday’s Student Activities Fair.

“I have an interview with UVA Survivor on Thursday that I’m really excited about,” Uhle said. “I’m a big fan of the show. I applied to it before.”

Fellow first-year student John Myles-Mills was likewise looking forward to getting involved on Grounds outside of the classroom.

“There are just so many options I want to explore,” he said.

Three students smile and chat while sitting in rocking chairs on a lawn.

Emma Hartman, left, and fellow Lawnie Ling Ling Xu, center, gather on the Lawn with friends on the morning of the first day of classes. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

Third-year global development studies student Kamina Mentore returned to Charlottesville, her hometown, after an intercontinental summer spent working at a nonprofit in Morocco and traveling in South America with her family.

“I’m excited to just know exactly what I’m doing. This is my first time taking classes just within my major, so it’ll be good to be in smaller classes with people I already know,” Mentore said.

Two women smiling and holding a “Happy First Day of Class” sign on campus.

Best friends Sayonee Patel, left, and Sheree Saad smile for a photo. They were the first in line at the photo booth. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

Fourth-year student Isaiah Henley was on his way to pick up a bouquet of yellow roses, the official flower of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, of which he is a part. He was back home in Hampton Roads over the summer, working as a nuclear submarine engineering intern at Huntington Ingalls.

“I’m looking forward to starting the end of my college career, seeing my friends whom I haven’t seen all summer,” he said. “And as excited as I am to see my friends, I’m especially excited to see my professors, update them on my progress, because these are the people who have been looking out for me for the past two or three years.”

Professor teaching a large class in a university lecture hall.

Students gather in a full lecture hall at the beginning of the fall semester. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

Three college students walking along a campus path.

The Lawn crawls with students as they make their way to class. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

College students chatting and relaxing in chairs on a grassy campus lawn.

Lawnies meet up before their classes. (Photo by Matt Riley, University Communications)

Students walking to get to class in Clark Hall.

Students hurry to get to class in Clark Hall. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)

Students walk along a tree-lined campus pathway.

New and returning Hoos enjoy the weather on the first day of the semester. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)

Students sit on steps, laughing and eating together.

A group of friends eats Bodo’s Bagels on the steps of the Rotunda. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)

Students walk across a leafy campus with the Rotunda building in the background.

The Lawn is abuzz with activity on the first day of the fall semester, as around 18,000 undergraduate students headed to classes. (Photo by Lathan Goumas, University Communications)