Freshmen memories documented in digital yearbook

Have you ever wanted to revisit a special time in your life? That is what Darlene Biggers, associate vice president of student services, envisioned when she decided to initiate an electronic version of old-school yearbooks. This new version will be created to document the freshman experience for the university’s first-ever freshman class.

When attending her own high school and college reunions, Biggers said she always pulls out her old yearbooks.

“One thing that continues to be of value are the yearbooks,” Biggers said.

Biggers enlisted the help of Royce Walker, an adjunct instructor in the Communication and Writing programs, to advise on the project currently slated to last through the 2015 spring semester.

“This is a one-time project recording this stage in the growth of the university,” Walker said. “I feel honored to be asked to use my expertise to help the students with such a momentous project.”

Walker assembled her student staff beginning with the hire of Samantha Oser, communication major, as the editor, and they are well on their way to documenting this era in UHCL.

One of the staff’s first order of business was to adopt The Wingspan as the name of the yearbook, a name suggested by Andrew Reitberger, associate director of student life.

Two notable members of The Wingspan’s staff are freshmen Bianca Salinas and Eric Yanez. Salinas and Yanez are already blogging about their experiences as members of UHCL’s first freshmen class throughout The Wingspan.

“The two freshmen bloggers are the voice for the freshmen on campus, so that none of the freshmen feel alone,” Oser said.

Salinas and Yanez have been busy attending university events and tweeting live. Be sure to follow them @UHCLBlogger.

Their blogs range in topics, from Salinas’ practical advice in “College Tips to Academic Success” to Yanez’ comic relief in pondering the whereabouts of a PowerPoint on his first day of History 1301.

“The teacher starts talking; no PowerPoint,” Yanez blogged. “He talks some more; still no PowerPoint. I was like, ‘Hold up, are we supposed to be writing this down?’”

Stephanie Romero, design editor; Jill Whalen, photo/video editor; and Abhiruchi Jain, Web/social media editor complete the yearbook staff.

The freshmen blogs are published online at http://uhclwingspan.wordpress.com/ and are updated weekly. The completed yearbook will be available as a downloadable PDF at the end of the 2015 spring semester. The Wingspan’s readers can anticipate articles, photos and videos of all the freshmen events, as well as the changes the university expects to undergo as a result of the downward expansion.

Walker visualizes The Wingspan as interactive with interesting infographics, event coverage and updates on new programs implemented as part of the university’s downward expansion.

“This can be a dynamic experience where you’re sharing as you go along,” Biggers affirmed.

While this project is meant to encourage first-year students, it also serves as a time capsule to record this historic occasion in UHCL’s history.

“This is for the archives; you are making history,” Biggers told The Wingspan’s staff. “This is too important not to capture.”