Lindsey Simonson \u201925 met new roommate Ani Goorha \u201925 on a University of Rochester<\/a> Facebook page this summer\u2014and the two quickly bonded. They each have a twin sister, and both will be majoring in a science field\u2014Simonson in biology, Goorha in biomedical engineering.<\/p>\n \u201cWe became friends right away,\u201d Simonson says.<\/p>\n Simonson is from Naperville, Illinois, and Goorha is from Dover, Massachusetts. The two met in Boston a few weeks ago, reunited in Rochester on Thursday, and then rode together in the backseat (with Simonson\u2019s dad at the wheel) as they moved into their room in Genesee Hall.<\/p>\n They\u2019re part of the largest incoming class in College history\u2014more than 1,500 students from 54 countries, 41 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. International students make up about one quarter of the new class, while about 100 are from the Rochester area.<\/p>\n Robert Alexander, dean of undergraduate admissions, financial aid, and enrollment management for Arts, Sciences & Engineering, went car-to-car in the Zone 3 parking lot on the River Campus early Thursday morning to greet students and families. Meanwhile, University president Sarah Mangelsdorf and husband Karl Rosengren, a professor in the departments of brain and cognitive sciences<\/a> and psychology<\/a>, continued their tradition of helping move first-year students into their residence halls.<\/p>\n When a light drizzle began, Alexander told one family, \u201cThis is like when it rains on your wedding day. It means good luck.\u201d<\/p>\n Alexander says he\u2019s \u201castounded\u201d by the resilience that first-year students have shown in wading through the uncharted waters of a global pandemic to land at the University.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope our entire Rochester community will be impressed by the strength of their character, the depth of their intelligence, and their burning desire to make the world ever better,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n