By Jackie Mosley | Assistant Features Editor
Freshmen move belongings to their dorm rooms, with help from campus and community organizations, friends and family. Photo by Cameron Kirk | Staff Photographer
The end of August brings the same things every year: intense heat, June bugs and freshmen. New students at APSU spent last Thursday, August 27 lugging boxes and saying goodbye to their parents as they moved into the dorms and prepared for their first year of away from home.
Going to college brings a great deal of excitement as well as some common concerns. Alexandria Herron, a new resident of Sevier, said her greatest fear about the upcoming year is “how to feed myself.” Kelly Milam, also of Sevier, said that she decided to live on campus so that she would “study more instead of being at home, distracted.” However, she smiled and added, “I will probably miss my bed the most.”
Freshmen come from far and near to attend APSU. Aubrey Harris, an 18-year-old chemistry major, came from Illinois.
“I am very excited to meet new people, but I know I will miss my friends back home,” she said.
Erica Pullen, a freshman nursing major, is from the small town of McEwen, about 45 minutes away from campus. She said, “I am really excited to get to know Clarksville, since it is so much bigger than McEwen.”
Many students choose to live on campus to save money or to get more involved in campus activities. D.J. Tidwell, a pre-med student and chemistry major, chose to commute for financial reasons.
“I am nervous about not being involved enough to meet a lot of new people,” he said. “I am most looking forward to getting a higher education in a specific field,” Tidwell said. “I am excited about it because this is what I will be doing for the rest of my life.”
Some freshmen concerns also reach beyond campus. Macey Smith, a nursing major and resident of Sevier said, “I know nothing about Clarksville. I got lost on the way here.” Many non-local students will probably be searching for after-class activities to do on and off campus. Keeping up with “The Gov Says” distributed through AP Mail as well as keeping in touch with a peer mentor are great ways to discover fun activities around town and on campus.
Reasons for choosing APSU vary for every student. For some newcomers, the size of the campus was the greatest appeal. For others, the distance from their hometowns played a major role in their college choice. Others researched specific majors and departments and found APSU to be at the top of their list.
Macey Smith said it best with, “I don’t know. I just felt like I was supposed to be here.”
– Jackie Mosley, Staff Writer
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