BOCA RATON, Fla. — It's a sign that fall college classes are about to begin: move-in day at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.
School leaders tell WPTV the number of first-year students is expected to rival last year's incoming freshman class at around 4,300 students, among the largest in school history.
That includes 190 students at Wilkes Honors College, the largest freshman class ever for that college.
For freshmen, move-in day at FAU is one of the most exciting days of the year. For their parents, though, not so much, trying to hold back the tears. But this year, the dorms are full on campus as students look to live in Owl Country.
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One by one, new FAU students carried pieces of their lives into Indian River Towers on Tuesday to create their new home.
And while they all have their reasons for choosing FAU, WPTV found one thing in common.
"It's close to the beach," freshman Carly Brzozowski said.
"It's a mile away from the beach," student John Downs agreed.
"Everything about this college is perfect. It's 1.8 miles from the beach," freshman Marissa Verzi echoed.
Verzi is excited to begin her career as an Owl.
"This was the first college campus I came to that I actually felt like I was going to get an amazing college experience," Verzi said.
WPTV tagged along Tuesday as Verzi and her family made multiple trips up the elevator and to the dorm room she'll share with friends from high school.
"Some pictures. I have a stuffed animal of my dog that I'm leaving back home. His name is Bentley," Verzi said.
Verzi is one of 1,500 new students moving in on day one.
"We've been able to make some dreams and miracles happen to get students here on our campus," said Catherine Kellman-Pitan, the director of housing and residential education at FAU.
Kellman-Pitan said the current housing market, coupled with a lot of Owl pride, led to a huge demand for living on campus. Dorms are at 100% capacity, and the school will not be utilizing hotels as they've done in the past.
"We've really spent the whole summer getting as many of those students on the waitlist off the waitlist," Kellman-Pitan said. "So we are down to less than 500 students, which is really a Herculean feat for my team."
Larry Faerman, the vice president for student affairs at FAU, released this written statement to WPTV about campus housing:
"FAU will not be instituting a hotel program as we prioritized freshman and sophomore students for on-campus housing. Our department of Housing & Residential Education worked in early spring to anticipate the unmet needs and demands of our upper-class students in order to provide an appropriate amount of lead time for them to plan for and secure off-campus housing."
"I'm very excited to go to almost all the basketball games, and I hope they have as good of a season as they did last year," Downs said.
"Meeting new people, going out, having fun," Brzozowski said.
"I can't wait for all the tailgates. All the energy, all the fun and excitement," Verzi said.
So while these Owls are ready to fly, their parents are coming to terms with them leaving the nest.
"It's tough," mom Tina Katz said. "You do all this work, all these years, and then you are like, don't go! I know that was the goal, but not anymore. My heart is breaking, but I'm so proud of her."
Move-ins will continue the rest of the week for freshmen and then upperclassmen, all before classes begin on Aug. 21.