News for Faculty and Staff
New students cheer and text their way through celebration
September 27, 2012
By Dave Jones
Sup UC Davis!!!
Lion dancers, professors, hip-hoppers, a capella singers, Olympians, taiko drummers, a Bollywood dance troupe and the Cal Aggie Marching Band-uh! — that’s what was up Sept. 25 at the second annual New Student Celebration.
How you doinnnn? ;)
Como estas
Welcome to Hogwarts. The sorting will begin shortly.
Look for Joseph Gordon-levitt somewhere in the audience ;)
I bet half of the people here have iPhones.
That would be half of the nearly 4,500 freshmen and transfers who joined the fun in The Pavilion at the ARC. They texted to their classmates — with the messages going up on a giant screen and The Pavilion’s scoreboards.
Where are you?
I’m over here.
Taylor (RA) will you marry me?
No
Davis is the best UC, hands down!
UC Davis>UC Berkeley
Gunrock gave me a high five! =)
That horse guy was pretty awesome =P
It’s not a horse, it’s a mustang!
•••
They heard from Athletics Director Terry Tumey: “I’m a new Aggie, too. We are raising the bar at this institution. That’s what new classes do.
“Athletics represents you. We want you to come out to be a part of it.”
Many of them already had, by attending a rally the night before.
I caught a pair of tube socks at the rally!!!!!!!!!!!!
I WANT TUBE SOCKS
We all want tube socks!
Im wearing aggie underwear
Fer sure fer sure fer sure
And they heard from our athletes who competed in the Summer Games in London: runner Kim Conley and swimmer Scott Weltz (both are alums who now volunteer as assistant coaches here) and sprint kayaker Carrie Johnson, a first-year student in the School of Veterinary Medicine. (She started the fall term just 72 hours after her last Olympic race.).
Conley made it into the Olympics 5,000-meter with an incredible finish in the trials, coming from 20 meters back and leaning across the line to take third place by just 4/100ths of a second — “my moment of excellence.”
Weltz commended the “Davis Way,” saying it’s “why I’m still here eight years later.”
Johnson did her undergraduate work at UC San Diego, but she concluded her talk with an expression of pride in her new campus: “Go Ags!”
•••
The newest Aggies texted shout-outs to their residence halls and particular floors, to their roommates and friends, and sent messages in the hope of getting to know some people better.
Happy birthday James! Best roommate ever
A shout out to my roommate Arielle!!! Looking forward to a great year!!!
Can I have your numba????
Call me maybe ;)
If you are a girl with a pink iPhone case look to your left
•••
They texted about some of their accomplishments these first few days at school:
I ate spaghetti successfully.
Biking and not crashing!
I successfully rode my bike while drinking coffee
Surviving our first water polo practice! Shout out to the other freshies!!! <3
… and about some missteps:
Seeing the guy run into the tree and knock it down while playing ultimate frisbee in segundo!!!
My butt hurts from biking so much :O
LOL at that last text.
Forgetting the key to my dorm... Twice
Falling while texting and walking at the same time
Running into poles on my bike because I can’t decide which side to go on
Ouch! Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi didn’t want to hear that! “Do you know what I do? A chancellor worries every day and all the time. That’s my job.”
She called herself a mom with 30,000 children — wanting them to be safe, to learn and to have fun.
•••
They texted about some of what they have already learned:
The matrix isn’t real
I found out Batman is Bruce Wayne.
The truth is... IM BATMANNNNNN.....
And things they need to learn:
I still don't know the fight song!!!!
•••
They texted about turtles:
I like turtles...
...turtles are cool
The only turtle in sight was in name only: the Golden Turtle Lion Dance Association, which put on a spectacular show with three — count ’em, three — lions (each with arching eyebrows, wiggling ears and a wagging tail, and a pair of well coordinated, acrobatic students inside).
GT RAWRRAWRRAWR. GO LION DANCE!!!!
The show also included Bakuhatsu Taiko Dan (which opened the show and later accompanied the lion dancers), the Liquid Hotplates a capella group (performing Goyte's “Someone I Used to Know”) and the Lashkara Hindi Film Dance Team.
UC Davis’ Popping and Mobility clubs joined forces as a flash mob, most of them dancing in their center aisle, except for Popping Club leader Eric Kim, who outfitted himself like the South Korean rapper Psy and danced like him onstage:
GANGNAM STYLEEEEEE
And that’s what he did, with Gunrock at his side!
I mean these drums are cool but WHERES ONE DIRECTION
•••
Sitting in front of the band...I think I'm going deaf
Cal Aggie Band-uh! Rocks
Trombones!!!!!!! 7777777
This one time at band camp.....
•••
They heard from space shuttle astronaut Steve Robinson, an alumnus who recently retired from NASA and joined the faculty of the College of Engineering: “This world needs changes so let’s get to it!”
And from geology professor Dawn Sumner (who spoke in a videotaped message from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she is a science officer for NASA’s latest exploration of Mars, with a rover named Curiosity). She told the newest Aggies: You are students at a research university, where our mission is “to explore things that haven’t been explored before.”
The students’ texts showed no lack of ambition:
FOOD SCIENCE!!!!!!!!!
Pass my classes, isnt that everyones goal
No failing!!!!
Learn ALL the math!
Take the tractor driving class
I wanna study abroad in oaxaca for medicine! =)
To be the very best, like no one ever was
Study & get good grades! duh what else?!
Work with wolves in a rehabilitation center for endangered species
Study Animal Science in New Zealand
Paid Research Internship!
I want to be a butterfly
Become friends with the kid that wants to be a butterfly
Studying Abroad- Italy
Intern in DC!
Becoming a physicist!
My dream is to become Veterinarian!
Double major in photography and biomedical engineering
Make the most outta my four years here!
•••
They heard from Danielle Huddlestun, membership director of the Student Alumni Association, and Yenna Bae, ASUCD vice president, about getting involved.
Laundry Room Movie Nights :)
I want to join in the band. so cooooool~
Anybody can join the band-uh!!!! Come talk to us and we will let you know how!
Join Circle K International.
Join the all female accapella group The Spokes.
I want to learn to dance!!!
Dance at Mondavi Center!
Dancing for days
Form/join a jiujitsu or MMA club
How do you join drama productions?
Becoming a pokemon master!!!
Get chocolate wasted
I want to milk all the cows in davis
Cow tipping
Meet lots of ppl!
REAL LIFE GLEE
Find a choir
Sing like this guy
Sing my heart out
•••
Not sure if college is always this awesome, or just welcome week.
Where’s everyone going man?
Outside, for the barbecue and the Student Resource Fair and the celebration T-shirts on the Hutchison Intramural Field.
That’s so fetch!
Reach Dateline UC Davis Editor Dave Jones at (530) 752-6556 or dljones@ucdavis.edu.
Follow Dateline UC Davis on Twitter.
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