Josh Baylis is a lucky guy. A senior at Belle River high school planning to study physics at the University of Windsor this fall, he was the winner of a $1,000 tuition voucher on Thursday, the first day of Head Start orientation.

“I am so lucky!” Baylis said as he claimed his prize.

He took some ribbing from his schoolmate Sean Clavette, who had given Baylis his own tickets to enter in the draw. Afterward, Clavette did not regret his generosity.

“I thought Josh probably needed the money more than me,” he said.

The friends were among hundreds of newly-admitted first-year students attending the campus program—which continues May 28, June 7, 8 and 11—for academic advising, tours, and information on services.

Jessica Brown, a grade 12 students at Ecole secondaire l’Essor, will major in business. Thursday, she consulted with the Advising Centre to organize her course schedule.

“I’m really excited to come to the Odette School of Business,” she said. “I heard it was a very good business program here.”

It was a theme echoed by Prachi Mohile, a Belle River student who said the behaviour, cognition, and neuroscience program perfectly combines her interests in psychology and biology.

“People underestimate Windsor,” she said. “This is the only school I applied to because I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”

In addition to a campus tour and some tips for first-year success from a professor, Mohile appreciated the opportunity Thursday to make some new friends.

“I have met three or four students in my program already,” she said.

Sofia Tahat of London’s Sir Frederick Banting Secondary School, said she can’t wait to begin her studies in civil engineering this September.

“My father convinced me to apply to the University of Windsor and I’m glad I did,” she said. “When I came to the campus, it felt really nice. It felt like home.”

Head Start, organized by the Educational Development Centre, continues with session for students in human kinetics, arts, or social science programs on June 7, 8 or 11. Find more information, including an online registration form, at www.uwindsor.ca/headstart.

Visitor Prachi Mohile gets directions from an enthusiastic Laura Prada of the Educational Development Centre at the Head Start registration desk.

A student signs the “Class of 2016” banner in the CAW Student Centre during Head Start celebrations.

Kevin Ng of Riverside Secondary School enjoys the first of many lunches in the Marketplace cafeteria. He plans to study biochemistry this fall at the University of Windsor.

Peer counsellor Devon Devogelaere (centre) provides advice to new business major Jessica Brown and her mother Annette Beaudoin at the Head Start information fair.