Shepherd University freshman Makayal Barnes, of Greencastle, Pennsylvania, enters her dorm during new student move-in day. Photo by Tabitha Johnston.

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Lugging heavy boxes stuffed with everything from printers to sneakers into their dorms, Shepherd University’s freshmen and transfer students experienced an easy move-in day on Aug. 23, thanks to the help of their resident assistants.

For the resident assistants, the day began at 7 a.m., with only a couple hours to clean all of the rooms in their dorms and set up for the arrival of the students at 9:30 a.m. According to new resident assistants Kelsey Taylor and Beth Jessee, this year’s check-in process moved more smoothly than past years’, because they were able to check in students online rather than on paper.

“Our day’s actually pretty kick-back. It’s stress free, because we’ve got a new system to check everyone through,” said Taylor, a junior nursing major. “Check in last year was on paper, but now it’s all online, so we can do it off of our phones. It’s really nice.”

Although she is new to her position, Taylor said she has already enjoyed working with the freshmen who will be living in her dorm.

“I love working with the freshmen, they’re so excited to see what’s out there. Their questions are so cute, but they’re always the same: How do I get the wifi to work? How do I get my gaming system to work?” Taylor said, as she laughed about it with Jessee.

According to Jessee, a sophomore elementary education major, the most difficult thing she expects her freshmen to experience in their first year, is the transition from high school to college life.

“It’s just the adjustment of being in a different setting. Since it’s not high school, there are a lot of different challenges they’ll have to deal with,” Jessee said.

For new Rams soccer player Ennis Winters, of Hampton, Virginia, balancing a demanding athletic and academic schedule may be the biggest challenge he will face in his freshman year. Winters is serious about succeeding academically, and chose to come to Shepherd because it has a good computer engineering program.

“I was trying to find a school that had both soccer and my major, and that would help me balance both,” Winters said. “I like the fact that the classes aren’t going to be quite as big. If I went to a big college, the professors wouldn’t known my name. But here, I can talk to my professor and ask him questions, instead of the teaching assistant.”

Incoming freshman Makayla Barnes, of Greencastle, Pennsylvania, said she is excited about studying graphic design at Shepherd.

“Shepherd University has a really beautiful campus, and for my major it has a really good program. I’m looking forward to getting to go to my classes and making friends,” Barnes said, as she walked to her dorm. “I would say I’m ready for it.”