Hundreds of people across the state of Texas got to explore their interests on Saturday while seeing some of what the Forty Acres has to offer at Explore UT. 

Explore UT has been held annually for the past 20 years. The event attracts families, teachers and community members to take part in over 400 activities across UT’s campus. This year, the University offered activities ranging from designing paper airplanes to taking part in a Shakespeare play, which were available to people of all ages.

Explore UT Chair Brent Iverson said the purpose of the event is to expose attendees to all of the “exploration” that members of the UT community do in their respective fields.

“It does not matter what people are interested in, there are gonna be events that they can come (to) and see what true scholarship is all about,” Iverson said. “We want everybody … to come on campus and realize that what really happens at the University is we try to make the impossible possible.”

Despite the occasional light rain, waves of people walked through campus to the different colleges and activity locations where they could enjoy tours, demonstrations or lectures by some of UT’s professors or students.

Laura Villegas, human development and family sciences sophomore, said she volunteered at one of the information centers where she helped participants navigate the event.

“At Explore UT, you can just get a sense of all the different things and activities you can be a part of on campus,” Villegas said. “It’s just a chance to get more information about each major and what you can do and how you can get involved.”

Individuals from across campus help make the event happen each year with the help and coordination of the University Events team.  

Blaine Paradise, a teacher at Fulmore Middle School in Austin, attended the event with his students where they had the chance to build catapults and tour Jester Center.

“Part of (Fulmore Middle School’s) mission is to encourage our students to go to college,” Paradise said. “One of the things we like to do is go on field trips to colleges and universities. We always do Explore UT … it’s the best college experience we could find.”