A new academic year has started!

There's a specific feeling to the first day on a new campus. Suitcases everywhere, a room that doesn't look like yours yet, a campus map you're checking every thirty seconds, and forty new names you're already forgetting. It's a lot. It's also the start of something BIG!

Every fall, Kings students arrive at six very different campuses across the US, and each student gets the same thing on arrival: someone waiting for them. Orientation, campus tours, help setting up a bank account and a phone plan, and a Student Success Advisor who knows their name before they walk in. Nerves are normal, but we don't ask students to get through them alone.

This month we're showing you five locations:

• Kings at Fisher College in Boston
• Kings at the University of Mount Saint Vincent in New York
• Kings at the University of Wisconsin-Stout Polytechnic
• Kings at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
• Kings at California State University-Fullerton

Five campuses, five very different vibes, same promise.

Kings at Fisher College in Boston

Jorel came to Boston early with his parents and aunt in tow, for a full week to get the lay of the land. They met with us Monday and got a campus tour from admissions, so by check-in he already knew where he was going.

Then came orientation. Fisher's international session in the morning, lunch at Fire + Ice, where you pick your own ingredients and watch the staff cook them in front of you. Kings orientation followed in the afternoon, and we closed the day with dinner at Beacon Hill Books and Cafe.

Shitao, one of our student leaders, joined us. He finished his bachelor's at Fisher and starts his MBA there this fall. He can tell you anything from how to handle a tough semester to where the best Chinese food in Boston is. Exactly the person you want at the table on your first night.

Kings at the University of Mount Saint Vincent in New York

Our New York arrivals hit the ground running. Check-in, luggage hauled up to Spellman Hall, IDs printed, and then straight into students' favorite question: can I change my schedule? A few wanted to swap classes, so we sat down and reworked them on the spot.

Then came the errands. Everyone needed a SIM card, so we hit two different malls. Two, because one student HAD TO HAVE the orange iPhone 17 Pro. UMSV lets us use the athletic team vans for student excursions, so why not? Lunch was a democracy that immediately fell apart: two students hunting American fried chicken, two for Japanese, and one straight to Shake Shack. We split up, ate well, regrouped.

At one point we literally stopped to smell the roses. Big yellow ones, impossible to walk past. A small thing in the middle of a long day of errands, but it's the kind of moment we hope every student has in their first week: a reason to slow down and notice where they've landed. They photographed and filmed nearly all of it, which is exactly what you should do on day one.

Kings at the University of Wisconsin-Stout Polytechnic

New student Lauren moved in on Tuesday morning after what we can only describe as a heroic amount of travel.

We got her key and ID and game-planned the best corner of the room to take as hers. She is living in a quad, a dorm room for 4 inhabitants, and she got first choice!

Yuchen, our first student mentor at Stout, is a current student whose job is to be a guide and friend to new arrivals. Within a day, she had walked Lauren through how the meal plan actually works, how to read the Stout bus system, and, maybe most importantly, gave her someone to sit with at meals. Nobody should have to figure out a new dining hall alone.

Kings at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

At Oshkosh, several students moved up from the GO:Prepared programme, our English language program, and the rest arrived for the first time. Official move-in was Monday, but a few showed up as early as Friday, so check-in stretched across four days. Center Director Chihae and Student Experience Coordinator Tirtha met each of them at housing, sorted IDs, toured campus, and walked them to the Kings office.

The Walmart run became a daily fixture, with Kings students Yijun and Yehun helping new arrivals figure out what they actually needed. Kings orientation followed Tuesday afternoon, and Wednesday brought UWO's official orientation: opening bank accounts at the credit union, the academic success center, Residence Life, International Student Services, the health center, a campus tour, and, yes, another Walmart trip. Thursday was Titan Take Off with the full freshman class, ending with registration alongside Kings Student Success Advisor Stephanie. Friday was lighter: students met the Dean of Students, learned about the Career Development Center, then lunch and downtime at the Titan Underground dining hall.

It was a lot in one week. And it was only the start, with more events before classes begin!

Kings at California State University-Fullerton

Phuong Giao Pham arrived from Vietnam and Yejun Gong from Korea, both on the same day, both fresh off a full day of flying. The first lesson in California is that it is enormous! The ride from the airport took an hour, which neither of them expected. Second lesson, delivered immediately and without mercy: Orange County in August is hot. Nobody is ever quite prepared for that first step outside.

They both got first pick of dorms and ended up on the same floor, which means one familiar face from day one. Titan Cards were printed the same day they landed, so they were ready for the dining hall first thing the next morning. We walked them around campus, showed them where things are, and answered the questions that only come up once you're actually standing there.

The clear highlight, after the heat: their suites are temperature-controlled. Never has air conditioning been so appreciated.

So, to the students packing right now, take the photo on the first day. You'll want it later, when the campus map is in your head and the forty names are your friends.