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Hi my name is Caroline Bristoll, and I am a freshman here studying bilingual education in the Spanish focus. I am from Elgin, Texas (small town about 40 minutes east of Austin), and am currently living in West Campus. I did drill team and marching band in high school, and have continued my marching band experience by joining the Longhorn Band and Pep Band. I am super excited to get a head start on planning out my future years here at UT, and can't wait to meet everyone!

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Hello! My name is Ariel and I am a freshman majoring in Special Education. I am from Austin, Texas and I have attended KIPP: Austin Public Schools since I was in 4th grade. I am very excited to meet new people, cultures, etc. I love staying busy so I work a lot and I am currently working two jobs. I work at Amazon for their global specialty fulfillment at all Austin area Whole Foods Markets and I also work as an administrative assistant for a small construction company.  I also stayed really busy at school as well! My high school was founded in 2016 and had no extra curricular activities and was only focused on academics! I hated the fact that we were expected to be in a classroom from 8am-5pm and just "learn", but I think learning can also happen outside a classroom so I helped open a couple clubs such as student council, a social justice committee, an international travel club, and a yearbook council! I am looking forward to living on my own with my roommates and making new connections and memories here at UT and at the college of education. :)

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Hi! My name is Dylan Armour and I am a freshman here at UT Austin, studying Special Education. I am from a suburb in Los Angeles, California. I am excited to study Special Education in college because I have been working with children and young adults with special needs since I was 11 years old. I already love living and going to school in Austin- the people, the weather, and the food are just a few of the reasons why this city is so awesome! I am most looking forward to meeting new people and making amazing memories with them!

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Hey guys! My Annabelle Dicker and I am from Austin, Texas. I actually live in Lake Travis which is like 20 mins away. I was originally born in Taiwan and then lived in Shanghai until 3rd grade and have lived in Austin since. I am a freshman majoring in Special Education and am still figuring out what I want my future to look like. I am also thinking about doing rec sports or some other fun clubs on campus to stay active and be able to meet more people. I love being active, traveling, and hanging out with my friends. I am so excited for this year and semester, can't wait to get to know all y'all!

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Hello. My name is Lucian Juarez. My major is Special Education and I am from El Paso, Texas. I had never been to Austin prior to coming to UT Austin so I was really excited to see everything Austin had to offer. I have a cat named Sam who I miss dearly. I have always had a passion for mentoring my peers and that has led me to pursue a career in teaching. I am looking forward to meeting like-minded people here in college. I want to interact with my peers who share a passion for teaching.

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Hi, my name is Thalia Lalo and I am from Panama. I am a freshman and my major is special education. My real goal is to open an all-inclusive school, where kids with different types of disabilities feel they can belong. My hobbies are tutoring, baking, and ballet. I have always loved teaching, since I have seen it from my mom, grandma and great grandfather. I hope that in this FIG I get to meet new people, while get advise on what to expect on these 4 years of college. I am looking forward to all the football games and Longhorn spirit!!

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Hi Im Ava Rideout! Im a special education major from Boerne, TX. I use she her pronouns. I am super excited to be in Austin and get to explore the city! A few things about myself is that I love to be outdoors, I want to check every national park off my bucket list, I have an Australian shepherd named scout, Im vegan, and ran track and xc in hs! I look forward to getting to learn more about my major and things I am passionate about!

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Hi! My name is Ali and I am from Ponder, Texas (Denton Area). I am a Freshman studying Special Education, and interested in also studying English. I love hiking, theatre, reading, and going to concerts. I am very excited to experience life in Austin and really find myself.

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Hey! My name is Sawyer Tedder (he/they). I am originally from Columbia, SC. I went to udnergrad at the University of South Carolina (Go Gamecocks!) where I earned my BA in Sociology, Health Promotion, and Gender Studies. I moved to Austin in 2016 to attend UT-Austin where I earned my MEd in Education Policy. I have worked in the College of Ed since 2018. I have a cat named Cat (he also responds to Catboi, Fat Cat, and Lil' Sh*t depending on the mood). Fun fact about me - when I moved from SC, I moved with a group of 10 of closest friends and I still live with my college roommate. This year I am most excited about taking all the self-care practices I learned in the past year and work on continuing them when things get back to 'normal'.

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HI! My name is Bianca Olivares, many call me B- it just comes out as something natural:) I am a freshman, and will be majoring in All Development and Generic Special Education! I have grown and lived in Texas all of my life, however- have always traveled, mainly only to Mx. I have recently been unemployed due to the fact that my job, has only ever been a summer job, the last 4 years- but I love working, and making conversation with people, and making new friends. Which, is ironic because I feel I am an introvert (@ first), and have social anxiety, but I love meeting new people, and making friends. I am most looking forward to coming to college because I am a 1st- Gen, and have been in the same school since 5th grade (KIPP), where I have had my hand held throughout it, and known the exact same friends the last 8 years- so walking to a completely different environment, so much bigger community (college) is exciting.

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Hey!! My name is Emily Lucas! I am a freshman at UT majoring in Special Education! I am from Pflugerville, TX (It's about 25 mins from Austin). I have one older sister, who's an communication major at UT. I have one cat named Dixie. One fun fact about me is that I went on the tallest zipline in New Mexico. My dream vacation is traveling to New Zealand! I'm super excited to meet new people and form friendships!

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Hi! My name is Sophia Zaldivar! I am freshman, and I will be majoring in Special Education! I am from San Antonio, TX and am so excited to explore Austin! I work at a summer camp in the Texas hill country for people with special needs, called Camp CAMP, and played basketball in high school! I am super excited about meeting new people and finding friends with similar interests. I am also super excited about adventuring around Austin and all of the UT classes and game days!

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Hi! My name is Bella Rodriguez and I am from Dripping Springs, Texas (about 30 minutes west of Austin). I am a freshman and studying Special Education. I am living off-campus at SRD and I am having so much fun! I am really looking forward to having a great freshman year filled with so many memories! I grew up coming to football games and other events and I am super excited to be a student attending those events now!

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Hi my name is Tatum Sommer. I am a special education major & I am hoping to specialize in high school education. I've lived in Austin since I was 2 and love it here in Texas. I have two dogs and 6 other siblings. I work as a fitness instructor at Barre3 and love going to concerts. I am most excited to start taking unique classes that interest me and are major specific.

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Hi! My name is Jolie Hurwitz. I am a freshman at UT and I am studying special education. I am from Long Island, New York and I am very excited to be here in Austin. I am living in an off campus building called the Callaway House, and it is super convenient because it is right next to campus. Throughout high school I played varsity soccer, lacrosse, and basketball. In addition, throughout High School I worked very closely with children with special needs and have enjoyed every minute of it, therefore why I am studying special education. I cannot wait to meet so many new people from so many new places and explore tons of different courses here at UT! I am looking forward to trying out all the great food in Austin as well as exploring all Austin has to offer!

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Hi!! My name is Ella Coffey and I am from Memphis, Tennessee. I am a freshman at UT majoring in Special Education and thinking about going into a graduate program for occupational therapy. I am living off campus in Hardin House. During high school, I played tennis and swam, as well as participating in a lot of service activities. I am so excited for game days and meeting people in and outside of my classes!

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Hi, my name is Riley Kandel. I am a freshman at UT majoring in special education. I am from Long Island, New York. I'm living off campus at the Callaway House. In high school I played soccer and did a lot of community service so I hope I find ways to get involved at UT. I'm looking forward to game days and making new friends from all over the country!!

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Hi, my name is Daria Maya. I am a freshman at UT majoring in Special Education. I am from Westport, CT and this is my second time in Texas. I know coming to college I should be looking forward to taking interesting classes, which don’t get me wrong I am, but I am most looking forward to game days. I regularly follow football and am so excited to finally have my own college team to root for. Also, I am looking forward to finally taking Special Education classes in order to learn more about the field and meet new people with similar interests.

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Hi, my name is Sarah Brown. I am a freshman here at UT, and I am majoring in special education. I am from Mckinney, Tx (North of Dallas) but my family now lives in St. Louis, MO. I am most looking forward to learning as much as I can and growing as a person. I am so excited to meet and get to know everyone and make friends in the same major as me:)

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Hello! My name is Darian Rogers. I am considered a freshman, as I graduated high school in the spring, but thanks to dual credit, I already have an associate's degree. I am majoring in Special Education and also completing Pre-OT requirements. I am from Illinois but have lived in Texas for almost 8 years. I live in West Campus and am a manager at H-E-B. I have lots of hobbies from sports to music to reading, so I am most excited to make friends and spend time with people who have the same interests as me. I am also excited to get back into special needs classrooms when there comes a time it is safe to do so.

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Hi! My name is Tiffany Carter. I'm a freshman and am studying Special Education. I'm originally from São Paulo, Brazil but have lived in Round Rock for the past four years. I commute to school, work part-time at a Pizza Hut, and am currently looking for a job on campus. Coming to college I'm most looking forward to meeting new people and forming connections. As well as becoming more independent and taking control of my life path!

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There are many things that I am looking forward to in college but i would have to say the thing I am most excited about is getting to start a life in the real world and make my dreams come true. I am a very big dreamer I incredibly ambitious to accomplish things that I have planned out in my head and i feel like college is the first step so I am super excited to embark on this new journey.

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Hello! My name is Zachary Siegel. I am a sophomore here at UT studying Special Education. I am originally from Dallas Texas (Plano) but I live full time in Austin! In addition the FIG, I also am an Learning Assistant for UTS306J, a Tour Guide, and I work for University Housing and Dining creating new programs for food-allergic students! I am so excited to be your mentor this semester!

(Pick One)

1. What are you most looking forward to coming to college?

2. What are you most excited to learn during the FIG Seminar