Incoming students moved into their new dorms across campus during UK’s annual Big Blue Move-in.
From August 18-21, transfer students and freshmen moved into their new homes for the next nine months with the help of family members and the Wildcat Welcome team.
The Wildcat Welcome team assisted families in unloading their cars and loading their belongings to the carts and tables to keep the traffic moving according to Wildcat Welcome team member, Dan Bell.
“It’s kinda exciting really, seeing different things, everyone having different emotions about it,” Bell said.
He said he saw a few families sad, hating to see loved ones move onto the next stage of their lives, but the overall experience was a good one.
Sidewalks outside dorms were filled with incoming freshmen and their parents moving the big blue carts to the line of the closest elevator to get started on setting up their new space.
Mya Jones, an incoming agricultural and science major, and her mom Leslie Jones, said it’s “bittersweet” to move away to school with Mya being home having been the norm for so long.
The nerves set in as the final bags were moved into their rooms and the carts were returned to the Wildcat Welcome team.
Incoming freshman communications major Ryan Tattersall said he is nervous to start college hours away from his hometown in Eastern Pennsylvania but is excited to explore Kentucky and see what UK is all about.
“This is where my journey to my new life begins,” Tattersall said. “You don’t know what these places are going to bring you. It’ll be exciting for sure, but it will also be tough.”
Another member of the Wildcat Welcome team, Forrest Flannery said while being away from home for the first time for an extended period of time is a lot to take in, most students seem to take to campus pretty well.
“It doesn’t really feel real, you’re here and it’s like, this is our place, we actually live here. It’s crazy,” Gus Kelly, a freshman studying education and secondary social studies said.
The freedom of college amazed Kelly, but he is confident that he will make Lexington, Kentucky a home of his own.
“You feel really comfortable really quickly,” Kelly said. “It doesn’t necessarily feel like home, but you can tell it’s going to be, and you know you’re in good hands.”
