MEGAN COURTNEY | Culture Editor

New students and their teary-eyed parents jammed the sidewalks of freshmen quad Wednesday as the students moved away from home and into dorms.

Freshmen moved in by alphabetical order beginning at 9 a.m and ending at 2:30 p.m.

Director of Student Involvement Angie Royal said the weather — clear skies and high of 80 degrees — was “beautiful” for move-in day.

Royal said she enjoys getting to see the incoming students grow over the four years they attend Lindenwood.

Some parents, like Michele and Andy Manzer, were a little worried about their daughter, Emily, because she is moving 17 hours away from upstate New York.

“It’s really, really far, and she’s my baby,” Michele said as she began to choke back tears.

Andy said they have spent some time in the midwest area and have “connections” with family and friends in the St. Louis area, so they are “comfortable” with Emily being at Lindenwood.

“I’m really excited about Lindenwood for her,” Michele said. “I think this is going to be great. She’s met fantastic people already. She is a city kid at heart, even though she’s never lived in the city. She’s going to adjust really well to this area.”

When her mom was on her flight home from touring Lindenwood with Emily when she first got accepted, she sent a photo of herself in the Chicago airport with mascara running down her face.

“First I started dying laughing and then I’m like ‘she’s really upset about this. It’s OK, nobody’s looking at you,” Emily said.

Michele, who has another daughter at Ithaca College, said her youngest daughter’s move-in has been the hardest.

“This one’s making me do all the crying,” Michele said. “She’s getting all the tears. She’s my baby.”

Lion Leader Jen Wunder said she is excited for the start of the new school year and getting to see all the new freshman who are moving in.

One thing Wunder doesn’t like about move-in day are the stairs. She hates “taking everything to the fourth floor,” but takes the stairs since the elevators are jammed with people and it would take a lot longer to move things.

Sandy Leegumjorn, a community adviser in Reynolds Hall, said her job is to make sure that the campus is safe.

Leegumjorn also said that the freshman “seemed nervous” but that she enjoys helping them and answering any questions that they may have.

Some new students had positive attitudes about being away from home for the first time.

Kristina Block, a freshman majoring in accounting from West Plains, Missouri, said she chose Lindenwood because of the distance.

“It was far enough away from home that I could still go home, but not too far away,” Block said. “I’m not really nervous about not being home. I feel like I’m ready.”

The one thing Block’s looking forward to most about being away from home is “having new adventures.”

Coming from a small town in Missouri called Desloge, Miranda Brannum said it’s “pretty scary for me coming from a small town.”

“I’m just really excited to experience the college life,” Brannum said. “I have a lot of things I’m interested in here [at Lindenwood]. If I switch my major, there’s tons of stuff I’m interested in, they have a lot of good internships, I’ve heard. I really want that hands-on experience.”

Freshman Jessica Prowell’s mother, Lee Ann, said her daughter moving into a dorm is “bittersweet” because her husband died when Jessica was 14, so it’s just going to be her at home for the first time.

“It’s exciting for her because I never got to go to college right out of high school,” Lee Ann said. “I actually went to the accelerated program at Lindenwood. I’m in the master’s program, and I finish Sept. 17.”

Lee Ann said Jessica worked for college her whole life and has wanted to attend Lindenwood since she was a little girl.

Jessica’s mother runs a law office on Jefferson Street and said Jessica cleans it every other Friday.

“She’ll bring me lunch periodically,” Lee Ann joked.

Lee Ann said even though Jessica’s father isn’t physically here, he’s still with her.

“She was about to turn 15,” Lee Ann said. “He missed all the big stuff like her sixteenth birthday, learning to drive, high school graduation, the first day of college. So we’re like sisters.”

Jessica compared her and her mother to Rory and Lorelai Gilmore from “Gilmore Girls.”

“I just need a Luke Danes in my life,” Lee Ann laughed. “If I had a Luke Danes, it would be great.”

Gallery • 11 Photos

Photo by Kat Owens