@CamandCam
Here is some info on Howdy week https://today.tamu.edu/2018/08/27/photo-gallery-texas-am-howdy-week-2018/
the schedule of events can be seen from a link inside this link
My son’s freshman year, we did not move him in until Wednesday during Howdy week. He was on a trip and did not return until the Tuesday afternoon. That night, I got a text that he and his fish camp crew had gone pond hopping, where apparently,you go swimming in all of the fountains around campus.
We went pot luck roommate and while it did not result in a friendship connection (except for the mom and I) it worked. My son is not introverted to perform in front of others (I got a FB tag from a friend’s mom freshman year when he and a friend had driven to Houston to try out for America’s Got Talent) but he is shy to walk up to people he doesn’t know and make small talk. He knew a few kids from hs at A&M and his best friend, also in engineering and same dorm, but they chose to not room together. He did makes some friends outside of the BF but they did hang out a lot in the friend’s dormroom, as his roommate was also outgoing. The roommate situation is different now than when my son went through. I actually know of mom’s on this forum who got together (both out of state) and began communicating personally on FB at first then their kids communicated so they were able to pick a dorm mate suitable to them. So, I think it’s great if people want to reach out to each other privately and see if connections can be made going in.