In a frenzy of activity, freshman University of Missouri students move into dorms

As the start of the fall semester at the University Missouri approaches on Monday, freshman students on Wednesday moved into residence halls with the help of parents, siblings and Residential Life.

A few students said inflation is adding to the strain.

Among those moving in Wednesday was Emily Vandover, 18, of St. Louis. She plans to study civil engineering.

"I just always wanted to go here since I was little," Vandover said about her decision.

Her family came to Tiger football games and she loved it, she said.

Her sister is a student at the University of Kansas, she said.

From last year:MU sees first-day enrollment increase but fewer freshmen

Vandover also had the help of her mom, Maggie Sheridan.

Vandover tried several times with her student card and the code pad to unlock her room door, before ultimately succeeding.

Things were hectic, and Vandover and her mom decided how to arrange everything.

"Mom, I honestly don't know what I'm doing," she said.

"It's OK, just take a deep breath," Sheridan advised.

Moving in and getting things settled was nerve-wracking, but Vandover said she's excited to start classes next week.

Inflation caused her to check prices of things more closely, Vandover said.

"It just causes more of a strain for everything," she said.

Lucas George, 18, from Rolla, said inflation had "a bit" of an impact on his preparation to attend MU.

"Things have just been more expensive," George said.

Tuition has increased at MU by $14.50 per credit hour, to $217.50 per semester for students taking 15 hours.

George will study natural resources at MU. Brother Alex George, a student at Missouri University of Science & Technology in Rolla, helped Lucas move in.

Helpers with Residential Life pointed out covered and uncovered bike racks for his bike.

He considered studying engineering at Missouri S&T, but George said he became interested in natural resources through a career exploration program in high school.

"They didn't have a program that would fit," George said of S&T.

Another freshman student moving in Wednesday was Jillian Johanning, 18, of Glasgow.

She's been to football and basketball games at MU, she said.

Some uncles and aunts have gone to MU and she has cousins here now, she said.

She's majoring in business.

So far everything has gone smoothly, she said.

Now there's the next step.

"I'm a little bit nervous to start school," Johanning said.

Micah Pryor, 18, of Longmont, Colorado, was with his mom in the MU Student Center getting things squared away to start the semester. He's a computer science major.

"It hasn't been too stressful," Pryor said of the process.

He's not the first in his family to attend MU, he said.

"My parents went here, so I got an alumni scholarship," he said.

Masks were required in classrooms and meeting rooms at the start of the fall semester last year, but that's not a requirement this year.

Roger McKinney is the education reporter at the Columbia Tribune. You can  reach him at [email protected] or 573-815-1719. He's on Twitter at @rmckinney9.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: MU freshmen move into dorms with start of the fall semester on Monday