VALDOSTA — Dodging construction fences and battling for parking spaces heralded the return of more than 11,500 students to Valdosta State University Monday.

At the heart of Valdosta the historic campus was crawling with students as they rushed to class, crammed into to Palms Dining Center and walked to the bookstore to purchase their future knowledge.

Wide-eyed freshman tramped across campus toting new book-bags and maps, searching for those first college classes.

Savannah native and incoming freshman Antwoine Owens sat outside the VSU bookstore on Monday working on his laptop.

While he came to VSU for a change of scenery the personal freedom experienced during freshman year will not be regulated by his parents, he said.

“I have no one telling me what to do, no one around to push me,” Owens said. “I will have to be my own extra push.”

To prepare for the frenetic pace that seizes the campus on the first day, Owens said he spent Sunday wandering around campus and finding the buildings his classes would be in.

A sort of dry-run for the big day, the pharmacy major said.

Inside the bookstore senior Sheena Edmonds patiently waited in line to purchase textbooks and other supplies. The biology major said she was familiar with the long lines at the bookstore and the heavy traffic while trying to park on campus, both events still come as a shock each year.

In the new parking decks, Oak Street and Sustella, the students were still grappling to find an open spot among the 5,029 spaces across the university.

Communications major Melanie Yeomans picked up some VSU gear along with her textbooks.

The middle Georgia native transferred from another college because of VSU’s communications department, she said.

The junior from Jacksonville, Ga., said she is still adjusting to life in a new town.