Reese Chatman, Campus Carrier features editor

Rahaf Khatib, Campus Carrier deputy features editor

As the 2022-2023 school year commences, Berry welcomes about 600 first-year students on campus. During Viking Venture, Residence Life assisted the newest additions to the Berry family with their move-in process. After carrying hundreds of mini fridges up numerous flights of stairs, all the newest students on campus are officially moved in and ready for the academic year.

Freshman Ryleigh Corcoran is one of the many freshmen that moved in. She said, “So my sister moved into her dorm the Saturday before us and it was an already emotional experience for them but then my mom was helping me unpack and it really hit her that we were both gone.” Her dad was worried since she has had health problems growing up. She also said, “they were helping me unpack and my mom was focusing on setting my stuff up as soon as I took them out of the box.” Ryleigh and her mother were teary-eyed at this point. “We needed to pick up some stuff from Walmart and decided to pick up some lunch while we were at it and ate in my dorm but my dad saw my phone blowing up and told me to go see my friends. We said our goodbyes and then they left.”

Addison Maxwell said, “It was very overwhelming.” Her dorm was much smaller than expected. She said, “Having both my parents and my roommates’ parents in this small room was very stressful.” She has never been away from home this way and she was excited, yet anxious.

Freshman Manny Estevez is an animal science major and Gate of Opportunity scholar who moved from Cartersville onto Berry’s campus this past June. Estevez said that he had been eagerly anticipating his arrival on campus.

“It was difficult to leave, but I was also comforted by the fact that my family was less than an hour away if I ever needed anything,” Estevez said. “It really only set in on the day that I was actually moving away from home.”

Freshman Lila Johnson is a developmental psychology major from Tampa, Florida who also recently moved onto Berry’s campus. Johnson said that move-in day “was an entire family endeavor,” stating that it was difficult to leave because she was “especially close to her mom.”