Welcome to Let it SnO-Week!

When you first set foot on Rice’s beautiful campus in the fall, you’ll be entering into one of the most fun, helpful, and exciting weeks that Rice has to offer: O-Week. Orientation Week (O-Week for short) is a week-long program dedicated to getting New Students acclimated to their life at Rice. This includes academic advising, tours of campus, and general introductions to Rice’s culture. O-Week is packed full of events designed to welcome you into our community, and no matter what activity you’re doing, we hope that you start to find a home away from home at Rice and within Sid.

Mission Statement:

Let it SnO-Week hopes to instill a strong sense of community and belonging in the next generation of Sidizens. Using traditions, both new and old, our goal is to set up a strong support system and foster the spirit of inclusivity to help the New Students experience a happy and meaningful welcome to Rice.

With this in mind, Let it SnO-Week seeks to embody the following values:

Support

Let it SnO-Week aims to not only provide the New Students with the traditional O-Week academic and social support, but additionally place an emphasis on mental-wellbeing support, for the New Students and the Advising Team alike. Sid is a community of support, and we hope to reflect that in our O-Week, in a broad sense.

Camaraderie

Let it SnO-Week hopes to foster a sentiment of camaraderie both within the New Students and beyond in the greater Sid and Rice communities. This camaraderie consists of meaningful relationships, solidarity between students, and a sense of mutuality and belonging in all endeavors at Rice.

Diversity + Inclusion

Let it SnO-Week aims to be diverse and inclusive not only of all cultures, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and forms of self-identification, but also of the different experiences and paths here at Rice. All are welcomed and loved here at Sid.

There’s Snow Place Like Sid <3

Meet the Coordinators

Becca Zadeck (she/her)

Cue the drumroll and give your loudest round of applause to the best, brightest, and baddest O-Week Coord out there: your fave blonde bestie, Becca Zadeck. She reigns from the burbs outside New York City, and she knows her way around any place (trust me!)-- just catch her on her next tour as one of Rice’s premier tour guides! This junior Physics and History double major pulls no punches when it comes to what she cares about– you’ll want her as your VIP art historian at any one of Houston’s memorable museums (whether art or science, she loves them all). When she’s not helping make Sid the loudest and hypest college on campus, she is your personal academic Advisor as a PAA and the best hypewoman around campus as Vice-President of the Rice Owls Dance Team. Three ways I can describe Ms. Becca– the epitome of Elle Woods in all her glory, the best dancing buddy when the DJ plays “No Hands”, and lots and lots of pink! If you haven’t already gathered, Becca is the epitome of work hard, play hard, and will give everything she has to what she cares about — your O-Week included. She will probably run the world someday (including becoming viral on Tik Tok), and we will happily let her because she is so sassy, so smart, and so undeniably Becca Zadeck, something we all wish we could be more like. You could not be in better hands with her as your Coord!

-Sofia Roa Jones '23

Helen Tian (she/her)

Standing at 5 foot 10 inches, Helen Tian is the perfect height to oversee Sid’s O-Week. This junior’s sunny personality is probably due to her Las Vegas roots, and her tall stature is nothing compared to her big heart and the love she puts into everything she does. And that’s a lot of love, because seriously - this girl is busy! If you’ve ever caught a peek at her stacked G-Cal, this former Sid Senator is constantly running around managing her Eco-Rep duties, lab experiments, and pre-med commitments while balancing a BioSciences major with a Sociology minor. However, this doesn’t keep her from being one of the most dependable, caring people you will meet - she is always there to give advice, comfort, or much-needed motivation at any time. She spends her free time fangirling over K-pop artists, finding new places to eat spicy food, or watching endless cat videos. She is also a boba enthusiast, and that's not said lightly - if you want to make a boba run once, twice, or six times a week, Helen is always down. You will probably never meet a more well-prepared Coord - her legendary Costco runs mean that she is fully stocked with everything from batteries to Sour Patch Kids at any given moment. It's hard to find someone simultaneously extremely put-together and so spontaneous, but Helen has it all. Her bright energy and fun-loving spirit complement her organized ways so well – get ready for an incredible O-Week with this super-model Coord!

-Vanuli Arya Sid Richardson '24, Victoria Chang Sid Richardson '24, and Kirim Kim Sid Richardson '24

Kathryn Phung (she/her)

Let it SnO-Week is in great hands with Kathryn behind the wheel! Kathryn is a sophomore Sugar Land, TX native who knows all the best spots around Houston, and she won’t hesitate to drive you there while absolutely blasting some Latin pop. Kathryn’s got range, majoring in both Chemistry and Spanish and Portuguese Studies, speaking more than four languages and crushing it in so many roles across campus, from a member of the Rice Program Council to the Rice Equity Council to the Sid Storage PODS Committee to your O-Week Coord, there’s nothing she can’t do! Just don’t ask her to get on an electric scooter. Or a regular scooter. Or a bike.

Seriously, Kathryn is one of the most genuine, easy to talk to people at Rice; she truly goes above and beyond for her friends, for Sid, and the incoming New Students. Living off campus, she’s constantly bringing some homemade treats to campus like lemon bars or mochi cake. One of the best communicators you’ll meet, you can always count on Kathryn for an aesthetic email or event design, a deep conversation, or a beautiful handwritten drawing or note (her calligraphy!?!?). Kathryn is so excited to welcome and get to know all of the New Students-- you’re bound to have an incredible O-Week and a great year with this caring and committed Coord.

- Alex Kornblum Sid Richardson ‘25