K Week is the Ultimate UK Experience

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 16, 2018) — Finding your way and defining yourself are what the university years are all about. Thousands of young people begin that process this week at the University of Kentucky.

Lucky for them, UK students who are not that far removed from those “first-week jitters” and experienced campus leaders who have “seen it all before” have created a program to welcome and inform the incoming freshmen and transferring students who are the newest citizens of the Big Blue Nation.

It’s called K Week, and many UK upperclassmen consider it the most important week of their freshman year — not because of what they learned in their introductory classes, but because of the welcoming mat the community threw at their feet for their first walk across campus. Some of the most favorite traditions include the New Student Induction Ceremony, Big Blue U, Campus Ruckus and We Are UK.

Never be late for the action by following www.uky.edu/KWeek or @UK_KWeek on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat or download the mobile app at https://guidebook.com/app/ukyguides/guide/kweek/. Download UK Guides in your app store and search for K Week 2018 to find the schedule of events, which K Teams new students are on, parking information, a campus map and more. (Freshmen might want to pay attention to events where attendance will be taken.)

The K Week schedule is custom-designed and packed with UK tradition. And to stay in touch with all your new best friends, take part in the photo contest with daily hashtags at www.uky.edu/studentservices/KWeek/k-week-photo-contest.

There is one sparkling new tradition at UK that this group of freshmen will share exclusively. This fall’s new students will be the first Wildcats to enjoy K Week events in the recently opened Gatton Student Center.

Realizing that everything about K Week is unfamiliar to freshmen, there are still a few K Week events that are new to the roster.

“The K Week team, which includes our professional staff and a number of student leaders, enjoys innovating and creating new ways to improve K Week and better assist students in their transition to UK,” said Nancy Stephens, associate director of First-Year Experience and Family Programs, Student Services Center in Student and Academic Support in the Division of Student and Academic Life.

This year’s attention-grabbing newcomer is Pick Your Path. Pick Your Path is slated on Monday, Aug. 20, throughout the day. Many campus offices have partnered with K Week to host tracks that students can choose from.

“Given the variety of campus partners we’re working with, we are able to cater to student interests in a number of areas, including wellness, the outdoors, community service, leadership education and more. I just had one student email me asking if she could sign up for five different tracks! We’re looking forward to seeing the student response to Pick Your Path. The K Week team, which includes our professional staff and a number of student leaders, enjoys innovating and creating new ways to improve K Week and better assist students in their transition to UK,” Stephens said.

More than 200 upperclassmen and untold numbers of staff worked all spring and summer to plan and execute the 2018 K Week extravaganza — a level of uncommon commitment to the freshman experience.

“Our K Week student leaders have been absolutely amazing,” exclaimed Kasey Borchardt, UK senior program specialist for the first-year experience. “There are 12 students serving on the K Week Board and more than 200 students on K Crew. They’ve been preparing for months to welcome our new students. And every single one has been completely devoted to K Week and making our new students feel welcome and wanted.”

More than 100 events take place during K Week, and all new students are expected to attend as many as they can. Students should carry their Wildcard student ID as attendance will be taken at a few events. That detail is listed in the online schedule of events, as well as in the printed K Week guide students received when they moved into their residence hall (on-campus) or at the K Week kick-off (off-campus).

Visit  www.uky.edu/KWeek or @UK_KWeek on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat or download the mobile app at https://guidebook.com/app/ukyguides/guide/kweek/.