Heather Finn and Cooper Millard help guide students through the halls of Brock.

It’s that time of year again – a time when tour guides in red shirts can be seen walking backward through the halls of Brock, giving parents and future students a glimpse of the next year.

About 2,500 students will come through Brock’s halls this summer as part of Smart Start, a program operated through the Registrar’s office. It gives new students a preview of university life, guides them through the registration process and makes them feel at home.

Many students bring their families to the one-day program. It is meant to make that first day of school in September a little less daunting, said Heather Finn, who with Cooper Millard acts as a Smart Start team leader.

Finn, a fourth-year Recreation and Leisure Studies student, grew up in St. Catharines and still found Smart Start to be helpful.

“I felt like I knew a lot about Brock. Then I realized there was so much more I needed to learn,” she said “I knew how to use the pool but not necessarily how to navigate Mackenzie Chown.”

Millard, a fourth-year Political Science student, found Smart Start so helpful that he asked that day how to join the program staff.

“The students were so knowledgeable and energetic, it was unreal,” he said. “It really eased my mind.”

About 80 per cent of students in Smart Start are entering their first year. They arrive at Brock at 8:40 a.m. to get name tags, packages and program plans. Students and parents take separate campus tours. They gather together again to hear a talk from a professor about academic expectations and lunch at the Guernsey Market.

In the afternoon, students register for courses while parents watch other presentations. There are also tours of residences, which are popular, Millard said.

“A lot of people want to know what they bring and what they can fit in the rooms.”

Smart Start runs from Monday to Friday from June 27 to Aug. 12. It also runs on three Saturdays in July.

To register, visit brocku.ca/registrar/smart-start