Tuesday marked the first day freshmen could move into their new homes for the academic year.

For an extra $20, students were allowed to move in early into the dorms. This year many students took advantage of early move-in, as Gerald Kowalski, executive director of University Housing, estimated 30 to 40 percent of the 7,000 students expected to live on campus arrived Tuesday.

Another 40 percent were expected to arrive on Wednesday with the rest “trickling in” throughout the week, Kowalski said. The task of moving 7,000 students into 20 buildings was made easier this year due to the high number of volunteers with the “Hunker Down with Housing” program, he said.

The program, which started in 1998, is intended to streamline the process of moving in to the dorms – but more specifically, volunteers are there to help freshmen. Susana Baker, a sophomore from Lawrenceville, remembered how helpful volunteers were when she was moving in as a freshman, which led her to become a “Hunker Down with Housing” volunteer.

“It’s a pay it forward kind of thing,” she said.

One of the students who moved in Tuesday was Katherine Brownlie, a freshman from Fort Worth, Texas. Like many of the other students moving in, Brownlie needed to come to campus early for sorority rush, and despite the long trek from Texas, she said the process of moving in had been “long, but easy.”

Her father, Smith Brownlie, explained they shipped most of his daughter’s personal belongings to Tate, where they were able to pick them up.

“Move-in is a big deal,” he said. “She’ll be a long way from home now.”

Despite Kowalski’s hectic schedule for the week, which includes waking up at 4 a.m. each morning, he said this is one of his favorite times of the year.

“There’s just an atmosphere of happiness and excitement in the air,” he said. “How could you not get excited with them?”