College students embarking on new year
Saturday was moving day for first-year students at several college campuses across the Triangle, so there was plenty of physical and emotional baggage being carried into area dormitories.
Posted — Updated"I'm sure there will be a few tears shed. It's a big day," said Ryan Barlow of Clayton, a freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Danny and Melissa Barlow helped move their youngest child into his dorm room, moving a little piece of their heart with each trip.
"It's a proud moment, obviously, and we are becoming empty-nesters as well, so a little bittersweet," Danny Barlow said.
"That's why we are going to the beach for the weekend – so I don't sit home and cry all weekend," Melissa Barlow said.
Moving in at UNC-Chapel Hill is much easier than getting in, where fewer than 4,000 students were accepted out of a record 31,331 applications.
"It feels amazing, actually," said Gerardo Alvarado of Mexico, who is the first person in his family to attend college.
Ryan Barlow said he is looking forward to making new friends among the 900 students in his dorm, and he extended an open invitation to his parents.
"Leaving home is going to be hard," he said. "They can come whenever they want to. It's an hour drive. They can come whenever they feel like it."
Students also moved in Saturday at Fayetteville State University, Meredith College and William Peace University. First-year students at North Carolina State University began moving in Friday, while Duke University students head to campus next week.
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