{"id":117212,"date":"2015-08-27T14:45:51","date_gmt":"2015-08-27T18:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=117212"},"modified":"2015-09-01T10:17:39","modified_gmt":"2015-09-01T14:17:39","slug":"ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/","title":{"rendered":"UR FOOT offers wilderness welcome for freshmen"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Richard Ryan, professor of psychology, has noted<\/a><\/strong>, \u201cNature is fuel for the soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since freshman orientation is a busy time for new students, it\u2019s no surprise that some of them seek reprieve in the outdoors. Through University of Rochester Freshman Orientation Outing Treks, informally known as UR FOOT, they are able to experience a wilderness respite before beginning college life.<\/p>\n

\"groupThe program was founded in 2005 as a small-scale offshoot of the University of Rochester Outing Club (UROC). UR FOOT is now an official club, recognized by the University\u2019s Students\u2019 Association (it also continues to collaborate with UROC for coordinating and borrowing camping gear).<\/p>\n

Each year, the club\u2019s upper-year leaders organize several different three-day, overnight, outdoor treks slated for the weekend before the University\u2019s orientation program. With 32 available leaders this year, UR FOOT is able to accommodate 98 freshmen from the Class of 2019 (that\u2019s an increase from 75 participants last year).<\/p>\n

The freshmen identify their preferred outings, but then are randomly placed in one of nine different treks<\/a>.<\/strong> These vary in their itinerary and difficulty, from biking in Letchworth State Park to canoeing in the Adirondacks, hiking in Allegany State Park to caving in Chimney Mountain\u2019s Eagle Cave. Most treks comprise about six \u201ctrekees,\u201d the informal term for the freshmen. The registration fee ($180 this year) covers food, lodging, and transportation for the duration of the weekend.<\/p>\n

The only prerequisite is a passion for the outdoors, explains UR FOOT co-president Sara Peterson \u201917<\/strong>. \u201cWe have some freshmen who\u2019ve never seen woods before and others who are backpacking pros\u2014it\u2019s a real mix.\u201d Before coming to Rochester, Peterson used to camp with her father and take hikes with her friends. She embraced the chance to participate in UR FOOT as a freshman in 2013.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where she met co-president Vito Martino \u201917<\/strong>. \u201cFor some of our trekees, it\u2019s their first time away from family, but getting to know everyone else on the trek\u2014especially during the car or bus rides there\u2014keeps them busy,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"twoThe weekend starts when the trekees move into their dorm rooms on the Friday before orientation. (\u201cThe biggest perk of UR FOOT is moving in early,\u201d confides Martino.) On Saturday morning, everyone has breakfast together at Wilson Commons before departing to their respective basecamps all over beautiful New York State. Sunday is generally reserved for the main hike or expedition, while during the evenings the groups bond over campfires, sing-alongs, and s\u2019mores.<\/p>\n

Each trek is as unique as the trekees involved. During Martino\u2019s freshman outing, his group took a spontaneous polar plunge on Sunday morning. Meanwhile, Peterson recalls swimming in the waterfalls of Stony Brook during her trip. In addition, the trek\u2019s leaders often impart words of wisdom to the new students, preparing them for their undergraduate years at Rochester. \u201cI found out about one of my first University jobs through my UR FOOT leader,\u201d recalls Peterson.<\/p>\n

Like Peterson and Martino, many of UR FOOT\u2019s participants return as leaders. Others go on to join related clubs at Rochester, including UR Rock Climbing Club or UROC. However, the UR FOOT experience leaves its own mark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI met a lot of my best friends during UR FOOT,\u201d says Martino. \u201cTruth is, the bonds formed during that weekend often last beyond freshman year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more at the UR FOOT website<\/a><\/strong> or follow UR FOOT on Instagram: @UR_FOOT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As part of a pre-orientation program, incoming freshmen bond during outing treks throughout Upstate New York\u2019s wilderness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":372,"featured_media":117242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[26692],"class_list":["post-117212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-class-of-2019"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUR FOOT offers wilderness welcome for freshmen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UR FOOT offers wilderness welcome for freshmen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As part of a pre-orientation program, incoming freshmen bond during outing treks throughout Upstate New York\u2019s wilderness.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-08-27T18:45:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-09-01T14:17:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/fea-URFoot3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1001\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"599\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sofia Tokar\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sofia Tokar\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sofia Tokar\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6e2aecfd2d62aca26a6a82e0f0153199\"},\"headline\":\"UR FOOT offers wilderness welcome for freshmen\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-27T18:45:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-01T14:17:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":575,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/fea-URFoot3.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Class of 2019\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Campus & Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\\\/\",\"name\":\"UR FOOT offers wilderness welcome for freshmen\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/fea-URFoot3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-27T18:45:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-01T14:17:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6e2aecfd2d62aca26a6a82e0f0153199\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/fea-URFoot3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/08\\\/fea-URFoot3.jpg\",\"width\":1001,\"height\":599,\"caption\":\"large group of students pose on tree\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UR FOOT offers wilderness welcome for freshmen\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\",\"name\":\"News Center\",\"description\":\"University of Rochester\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6e2aecfd2d62aca26a6a82e0f0153199\",\"name\":\"Sofia Tokar\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/author\\\/stokar\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UR FOOT offers wilderness welcome for freshmen","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UR FOOT offers wilderness welcome for freshmen","og_description":"As part of a pre-orientation program, incoming freshmen bond during outing treks throughout Upstate New York\u2019s wilderness.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/","og_site_name":"News Center","article_published_time":"2015-08-27T18:45:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-09-01T14:17:39+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/fea-URFoot3.jpg","width":1001,"height":599,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Sofia Tokar","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sofia Tokar","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/"},"author":{"name":"Sofia Tokar","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/6e2aecfd2d62aca26a6a82e0f0153199"},"headline":"UR FOOT offers wilderness welcome for freshmen","datePublished":"2015-08-27T18:45:51+00:00","dateModified":"2015-09-01T14:17:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/"},"wordCount":575,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/fea-URFoot3.jpg","keywords":["Class of 2019"],"articleSection":["Campus & Community"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/","name":"UR FOOT offers wilderness welcome for freshmen","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/fea-URFoot3.jpg","datePublished":"2015-08-27T18:45:51+00:00","dateModified":"2015-09-01T14:17:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/6e2aecfd2d62aca26a6a82e0f0153199"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/fea-URFoot3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/fea-URFoot3.jpg","width":1001,"height":599,"caption":"large group of students pose on tree"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/ur-foot-offers-wilderness-welcome-for-freshmen-117212\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UR FOOT offers wilderness welcome for freshmen"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"University of Rochester","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/6e2aecfd2d62aca26a6a82e0f0153199","name":"Sofia Tokar","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/stokar\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/372"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117212"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117282,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117212\/revisions\/117282"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}