Hello Darden Class of 2009,

Bienvenido, bem-vindo, bienvenu & welcome to Darden!  Congratulations on your admission to what will become a point of inflection in your professional and personal development.  I remember vividly the excitement I felt as I was standing in your shoes last year, and I want to be one of the first to welcome you to Darden, Charlottesville, and the Latin American Student Association community. 

While I can guarantee that you will look back at your time at Darden as some of the greatest years of your life, I also understand that your move to Charlottesville will imply a drastic and probably stressful change.  Please feel free to contact me, or any of the LASA officers, with any questions or concerns you may have regarding life and school at Darden and your move to Charlottesville. 

As a preliminary resource, we invite you to visit the following links to find information about UVA's housing facilities, Virginia's driver's license policies, and US immigrations policies.

• University of Virginia's Housing Division

• Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)

• University of Virginia's International Studies Office

• For other useful links, click here.

There is a great deal of excitement in the air in anticipation of the arrival of the Darden Class of 2009, and we are looking forward to meeting you all in August. Buena suerte, boa sorte, bon chance & good luck!

Gerardo Portela
President, Latin American Students Association
Darden Class of 2008
portelag08@darden.virginia.edu