Toothy smiles and planned poses canvassed the front lawn of the William T. Young Library on Wednesday, as new and returning UK students did their best to imitate classic first day of school photos.

“If you think about K-12, a lot of people will take photos of the first day of first grade, second grade or first day of middle school, so we decided to take that to college,” Associate Director of UK Parent and Family Association Nancy Stephens said.

The First Day of School Photo Booth is set up on the first day of every fall semester on the main pathway that leads from Willy T. to Funkhouser.

The UK Parent and Family Association, the group that hosts the photo booth, specializes in connecting campus life with students’ parents. Members of the group take the first day photos and post them on their Facebook page for parents and other family members to enjoy.

Stephens said that the event likely brought the highest amount of traffic to the association’s Facebook page because“families love the first day of school photos.”

“Inevitably people walk up and say it’s because a parent sent them to do it,” Stephens said. “Moms love this stuff.”

Turns out, Stephens was right.

“I came to the photo booth because my mom and I have always taken first day of school pictures since I was in kindergarten so every year she texts me and is like, ‘make sure to get your first day of school picture,’” nursing sophomore Madison Aubuchon said.

“Mom wanted a sibling picture for our first day. It’s like a tradition in our family,” integrated strategic communications junior Katie Gaubert said moments before posing with her brother, Zach, who is a business freshman.

It had been two years since the Gaubert siblings were able to get a first day of school together. So the pair was eager to get their picture taken on Wednesday.

“I was up at 5:30 this morning for ROTC and so I texted her right after I got done to figure out a picture time,” Zach Gaubert said.

The fall semester can be rough for students who spent their summers at home, but for students like Aubuchon, the First Day of School Photo Booth makes that transition a little more comfortable.

“College is different than elementary, middle and high schoo,l but this makes it feel like home a little bit more,” Aubuchon said.

The Parent and Family Association’s Facebook page can be found at www.facebook.com/UKParents.