For Ashley Blades, the moment came when she was pushing a shopping cart at a Lawrence grocery store, looking for drinks to fill her dorm room’s mini-fridge.

She couldn’t decide what to buy.

“I realized I couldn’t call my mom for help,” she said. “I was on my own.”

Such revelations have been common this week, a week that marks the beginning of adult life for about 4,000 Kansas University freshmen like Blades, of Kearney, Mo.

Today, they’ll attend classes for the first time.

The freshmen have traded their homes for residence halls with hundreds of neighbors, and probably traded structured high school lives for a world where they make their own decisions on issues such as whether to go to class or where to meet friends.

Or what beverage to purchase.

“I am a little nervous to start classes, but I’m also ready to get into a schedule and get started,” said Elizabeth Hamel, Chapman. “I’m nervous because I don’t really know what to expect, or how difficult it will be.”

Social anxiety

Students working for the Office of New Student Orientation, spent time in 100-plus-degree weather guiding new students to where their classes will be and showing them the Kansas University campus. Wednesday, Kristy Klein, left, a senior from Glen Ellyn Ill., showed Knoxville, Iowa, freshman Brian Crawford how to get to one of his classes.

Some, like Becky Harbert of Kingman, are intimidated by KU’s size. Her high school’s graduating class had 87 people, and her entire town had about 3,500 — roughly 23,000 fewer than KU’s Lawrence campus.

“I went to a really small high school,” she said. “This seems huge. It’s a little overwhelming.”

Hamel, who expressed similar concerns, said it would be difficult to meet people despite being on a big campus.

“I am from a small town where everyone knows everyone else, so it will be hard to adjust to the atmosphere of so many people,” she said. “Right now, I’m kind of worried about meeting people that I can really become good friends with, and fitting in socially. It is also hard to be away from my family and other friends that I’m used to being with every day.”

Jordon Ringel, Fort Worth, Texas, said he had developed a strategy for meeting new people at Oliver Hall, where he lives.

“I’ve just been going door to door in my dorm and introducing myself to people,” he said. “I’m meeting lots of people.”

¢ 6News video: KU’s Convocation opens the school year¢ Convocation primes students for semester¢KU news stories and information¢Special KU edition — KU Today Find out what life is like on KU’s “freshman bus” tonight on 6News at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Sunflower Broadband’s Channel 6. ¢ 6News video: Haskell starts fall semester¢ Haskell school year kicks off in hot weather

Erin Harveth, Tulsa, Okla., is hoping to meet people another way. She’s rushing with a sorority, which has added another level of anxiety to her first week of school.

“It’s like you want to fit in and put your best foot forward, but you also want to be yourself,” she said.

Tough classes

Courtney McKay and Sarah Dees, roommates from Sioux City, Iowa, said they were most concerned about their class load as they start their first semester.

“We came back (from the bookstore) with a bunch of books,” McKay said. “I’m not really nervous, but I’m realizing it’s going to be a lot of work.”

“It’s going to be a lot harder than high school,” Dees added. “It’ll be more reading and more thinking.”

Money also is on the minds of students as they start college. Studies have shown the average student debt for a bachelor’s degree at a public school ranges from $16,000 to $18,000.

Eric Williams, Wichita, is among those pinching pennies. His parents are paying for half his school, and he’s picking up the other half. He’s planning to get a part-time job to cover expenses.

Incoming KU freshman Elizabeth Noelke, Washington, Mo., left, and her father, Larry Noelke, set up a tower of wire storage cubes in Noelke's dorm room at McCollum Hall. Noelke and her freshman roommate, Ashley Chitwood, Littleton, Colo., and Chitwood's friend Jim Summers moved the women into their room Sunday. KU classes begin today.

“I’m limiting myself to $30 a week in spending money,” he said.

Healthy habits

Dr. Myra Strother, chief of staff at Watkins Student Health Center, is among those at KU who keep an eye on freshmen each fall.

She said one common bond among nearly all 4,000 freshmen was that they all felt homesick at some point during their first year of college.

“You’re used to being around friends and family and having a full life. It’s tough and that’s normal. But if it gets to the point you’re feeling depressed, we have counselors on campus to help you through that.”

She said the new freedom given to the 18- and 19-year-olds could affect everything from their health to their classwork.

“They’re leaving a more structured environment,” Strother said. “Dad is trying to get them to eat breakfast, they have a school lunch and normally there’s dinner at home at night. A lot of times they skip meals, and they get into a dysfunctional eating pattern.”

She said now was the right time for freshmen to begin healthy habits that would extend beyond their college careers and into the rest of their lives.

Ringel, the freshman from Fort Worth, said he was excited for those next phases of his life to start.

“I’m ready for classes to begin to see what it’s like,” Ringel said. “Of course, I may take that back after two weeks.”