Paige Figliomeni is happy to be moving into the Lakehead University residence because she won't need a vehicle.
"I hate driving," she said Thursday morning as she waited to check into residence on move-in day.
The Schreiber native is entering her first year of the university's social work program and chose Lakehead because of the program, a few of her friends are also attending and she's close to home.
"I'm a family girl so I'll be going home a lot," she said, adding she chose residence life to make friends and be close to her classes.
For her father Mark, it was bittersweet to see his eldest daughter start the next chapter of her life.
"It's a little sad, but it's a good start and we're very proud of her," he said, adding he thought residence was the right housing choice because of the convenience of campus living.
Carrie Mortson travelled a bit further, coming from the Barrie, Ont. area and said she chose to live in residence to meet more people and get to know the area.
Mortson is taking the concurrent education program at Lakehead and said the drive to the city was long and the sights and scenery in Thunder Bay are different than home.
"It's been a long drive, but it's been easy," Mortson said of the move. "They've been really helpful. They have lots of people to help you out."
Residence life and admissions manager Shannon Foster said more than 1,000 students would be moving on campus by the end of Thursday and they have students coming from all over the world.
"We have students from pretty much every continent," he said, adding about 50 per cent come from southern Ontario.
Because they have so many students come from a long distance away, Foster said they have programming in place almost seven days a week during the school year.
"They get the fact they're not going to be home every weekend," he said. "It's creating community and that's what we do best."
Four days of orientation are planned for the students to help them become comfortable in residence, to get to know each other and the city.
