FYE_LC_AAC_Training_high_res_33

First Year Experience (FYE) teaching assistant Isabella Horan and her FYE mentors at the First Year Experience/Learning Community Training, Aug. 23-24, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

FYE_LC_AAC_Training_high_res_24

FYE mentors at the First Year Experience/Learning Community Training, Aug. 23-24, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

FYE_LC_AAC_Training_high_res_18

FYE mentors at the First Year Experience/Learning Community Training, Aug. 23-24, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

FYE_LC_AAC_Training_high_res_16

FYE mentors at the First Year Experience/Learning Community Training, Aug. 23-24, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

FYE_LC_AAC_Training_high_res_13

FYE mentors at the First Year Experience/Learning Community Training, Aug. 23-24, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

FYE_LC_AAC_Training_high_res_35

FYE TA Aziz Sandhu and her FYE mentors during the First Year Experience/Learning Community Training, Aug. 23-24, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

FYE_LC_AAC_Training_high_res_02

FYE Peer Leaders (from left) Aziz Sandhu, Deepinder Singh, and Jimmy Huynh at the First Year Experience/Learning Community Training, Aug. 23-24, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

FYE_LC_AAC_Training_high_res_31

FYE mentors spell out FYE at the First Year Experience/Learning Community Training, Aug. 23-24, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

FYE_LC_AAC_Training_high_res_30

FYE TA Danielle Caefer and her mentor group at the First Year Experience/Learning Community Training, Aug. 23-24, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

FYE_LC_AAC_Training_high_res_29

FYE mentors at the First Year Experience/Learning Community Training, Aug. 23-24, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

FYE_LC_AAC_Training_high_res_28

FYE TA Jessica Mathieu and her mentor group at the First Year Experience/Learning Community Training, Aug. 23-24, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

FYE_LC_AAC_Training_high_res_25

FYE and Academic Achievement Center (AAC) Peer Leaders outside Next Gen Hall during the First Year Experience/Learning Community Training, Aug. 23-24, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

LC_Kickoff_13

On stage and energizing the crowd at the Learning Community Kickoff event is Justis Lopez '14 (CLAS), '15 MA, now a social studies teacher in NYC. (Defining Studios for UConn)

LC_Kickoff_10

WiMSE (Women in Math, Science, & Engineering) House students meet Jonathan XIV at the Learning Community Kickoff event on Aug. 27, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

LC_Kickoff_06

Justis Lopez '14 (CLAS), '15 MA leads students in line dances during the Learning Community Kickoff event at Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts. Lopez is a social studies teacher, and also owns his own business, Justis League Entertainment. (Defining Studios for UConn)

LC_Kickoff_03

First-year WiMSE (Women in Math, Science, & Engineering) House students pose for photos following the Learning Community Kickoff event on Aug. 27, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

LC_Kickoff_01

Sophomore Public Health House students at the Learning Community Kickoff event on Aug. 27, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

LC_Kickoff_51

Students pose for a photo with the Husky mascot at the Learning Community Kickoff event on Aug. 27, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

LC_Kickoff_47

WiMSE House students participate in a dance-off for prizes at the Learning Community Kickoff Kickoff event at Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts. (Defining Studios for UConn)

LC_Kickoff_43

Stephen Sam, a junior majoring in computer science and a member of ScHOLA2RS House, encourages new students to start building their legacy now, be humble in their approach, and understand that a UConn education is not an overnight operation, but rather a process. (Defining Studios for UConn)

LC_Kickoff_29

Justis Lopez '14 (CLAS), '15 MA engages the Husky mascot at the Learning Community Kickoff event on Aug. 27, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

LC_Kickoff_20

David Ouimette, executive director of First Year Programs, Learning Communities, and the Academic Achievement Center, welcomes this year’s Learning Community students at the kickoff event on Aug. 27, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

LC_Kickoff_52

More than 1,400 students, faculty, and staff attended the 9th Annual Learning Community Kickoff event at Jorgensen, setting the tone for a great year. (Defining Studios for UConn)

LC_Kickoff_56

Members of La Comunidad Intelectual gather with their faculty directors, Diana Rios, associate professor of communication and El Instituto, and Graciela Quinones-Rodriguez, psychiatric social worker in Counseling and Mental Health Services, after the Learning Community Kickoff event on Aug. 27, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

LC_Kickoff_54

EcoHouse students pose for a photo in front of Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts after the Learning Community Kickoff event on Aug. 27, 2017. (Defining Studios for UConn)

More than 1,400 students got an introduction to UConn’s Learning Communities at a kickoff event at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts on Aug. 27. Just days before, student mentors for First Year Programs & Learning Communities and the Academic Achievement Center participated in training on Aug. 23 and 24.

UConn’s residential Living and Learning Communities help groups of students united by their areas of interest navigate campus and its resources with their peers, and quickly feel at home. More than 40 percent of the incoming class participate in a learning community, as well as hundreds of students beyond the first year.