'I just can't wait': KSU move-in day sees thousands of students arrive

KENNESAW — About 5,900 Kennesaw State University students are arriving this week to live on campus, with incoming freshmen saying how excited they are to begin college. 

Lines stretched from the elevator inside the new 508-bed freshman dormitory, The Summit, all the way to the back side of the building Wednesday. Booths surrounded the front entrance, with areas for families to check in and a space to rent moving containers. Families waited to be guided to the rooms next to scattered suitcases and bins filled with pillows, blankets, boxes, and other essentials.

At 43,000 students, KSU is the third largest university in the state behind Georgia State and Georgia Tech. 

Freshman Michelle Montes De Oca of Cumming didn’t mind the lines, saying she was excited to meet all of the new people on campus.

“I’m interested in seeing what the culture is like here in comparison to other places,” she said. “That’s kind of what I’m interested in the most.”

Dressed head to toe in KSU-themed black and gold, Montes De Oca said she is going to be involved in the President’s Emerging Global Scholar program, which is designed to promote community engagement. She said she wants to see what the world has to offer outside state lines.

First-year students spent all day Wednesday moving in, with assistance from the university staff and resident advisers that work in the building.

The Summit is the school’s first new dorm built on campus since 2012, according to KSU spokesperson Tiffany Capuano. The building is complete with study spaces on each floor and electronic locks on all the rooms, the first dorm on campus to have such a feature.

Freshman Jada Powell of Hampton, a nursing major, brought her entire family to help her move in, loading up a trailer on the back of their truck with her belongings. Powell brushed off the nerves that go with the impending first day of college, saying she is eager to meet her new roommate and excited to jump into class.

“I just can't wait for fall '22,” Powell said. “I find joy in helping other people, so I feel like being a nursing major is really my thing.”

Freshman Portia Simpson of Woodstock spent the morning navigating the lines with her parents. Simpson, a biochemistry major, was ready to get settled in after sifting through the chaos of move-in day.

"I guess I'm excited to get all this stuff unloaded," she said with a laugh.

The first day of classes at Kennesaw State University is Monday.