More than 450 first-year students from 76 countries moved onto the River Campus on Monday, many beginning a new chapter in their lives thousands of miles from home.
“I’m nervous and excited,” said Yihan Xie ’22, who traveled 7,000 miles from Shanghai, China, with his parents and grandmother. “I don’t have a major yet, but with Rochester’s open curriculum, I know I can be pretty much anything I want to be.”
China leads the international contingent, followed by Vietnam, India, Mexico, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Pakistan.
At the Eastman School of Music, 26 international students from 10 countries moved into the Student Living Center. They’re part of a Class of 2022 that includes 147 first-year students.
On Wednesday, first-year and transfer students from the United States will move onto the River Campus and the Eastman School of Music.
Students will take part in orientation activities leading up to the first day of classes on Wednesday, August 29.
In pictures
(University of Rochester photos / J. Adam Fenster)
Arriving students, parents, and volunteers gather outside Susan B. Anthony Hall as international students mark their first day in their new home on River Campus.
Anastasia Taleck ’22, center, arrives with her mother Michaella, left, outside Susan B. Anthony Hall. Taleck is from the island nation of Mauritius, about 1,200 miles off the African continent, and plans to major in biology and become a geneticist. In Rochester, she’s looking forward to the change of seasons. “Back home, it’s summer all the time.”
Members of the D’Lions, a peer advising group of second- and third-year students who support incoming students, greet families at Susan B. Anthony Hall. Director of Orientation Eleanor Oi says about 200 student volunteers helped the international students move in, including first-year fellows, D’Lions, resident advisors, and orientation volunteers.
Yihan Xie ’22, center, says he’s nervous about going to college 7,000 miles from his home in Shanghai, China, but his mother isn’t. “I have confidence in his independence,” says Yvonne Xu, second from left. “I’m not nervous at all.” Xie received help from his grandmother, ShungLi Ying, and D’Lions Alyssa Nelson ’21, left, and Mary Halm ’21, right.
Danish student Mathias Hansen ’22 , left, poses for a photo with his new student ID for his dad, Jesper, in Rush Rhees Library. “Half the time I’m crying, and the other half I’m celebrating,” says Jesper. Mathis plans to major in electical and computer engineering, adding, “Rochester was nicer than the other schools I applied to,” he says. “It had a little bit of everything.”
Zunhao “Eric” He ’22, right, his mom Jian He, center, and dad George Wu wave from their elevator after moving into Eric’s room in the Student Living Center at Eastman School of Music. He hails from Shanghai, China, and will be studying percussion under professor Michael Burritt.
