Second-Year Experience

Second-Year Experience strives to provide students with a sense of belonging. Programming builds upon UPIKE FIRST and continues to create opportunities for students’ success while addressing challenges students may face, including searching for their identity or feeling uncertain about college.


Tradition 

The “Halfway to Graduation” is hosted each spring and celebrates the achievements of our students when they reach the halfway mark of their higher education journey. Faculty and staff present students with their Second-Year pin to add to their First-Year pin they received during “The Climb,” a rite of passage for all new Bears during UPIKE FIRST Week. 


Small Groups 

A team of Second-Year Success Leaders host events throughout the fall and spring semesters that provide students the opportunity to develop a sense of belonging in a small group setting. Whether it’s having coffee with a professor at Starbucks on campus or participating in a stress relief activity in the plaza, the Second-Year Experience team strives to support students as they build connections within our campus community. 

Each September, Second-Year Experience hosts a Block Party to welcome students back to campus and allows them to register for small group opportunities throughout the semester.