The School of Information is welcoming nearly 100 new students for the Fall 2016 semester.
From Nepal to France and Japan to Zimbabwe, nearly every continent is represented in the iSchool’s 2016-17 enrollment. Dean and Professor Andrew Dillon said the diversity of students’ personal backgrounds and geographic origins will complement the breadth of courses offered by the iSchool.
“There’s no wrong place to come from in this school,” Dillon told students during an orientation session held at the Harry Ransom Center in mid-August. “You can’t go wrong. All of you are embarking on an incredible journey that will lead to incredible career opportunities.”
To achieve the best results during their time at the iSchool, Dillon encouraged students to identify and focus on study areas where they have the most room to improve, rather than clinging to subjects in which they already excel.
“Take a chance,” he said. “Pursue the stuff you’re not certain of, and you’ll grow both personally and professionally.”
The orientation session took place during Welcome Week, a mix of casual and informational get-togethers organized by the Student Association of the School of Information (SASI). Following orientation, SASI officers led their new classmates on bus tours of the UT Austin campus and other landmarks throughout the city of Austin.
The evening before fall classes began, dozens of students also joined iSchool faculty and staff members for a “Gone to Information” happy hour before walking to the main campus with their adviser, Professor Randolph G. Bias, to participate in the annual welcome celebration Gone to Texas.
Other Welcome Week activities included museum tours, a visit to the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival, and a service learning event at the Inside Books Project, an Austin-based community service volunteer organization that sends free books and educational materials to prisoners in Texas.