UNM junior Maddie Gomez, 20, moves in her belongings into her dorm room with the help of her father Gabriel Gomez during move-in-day to start the fall semester on the UNM campus in Albuquerque, NM, on Thursday, August 18, 2022 (Chancey Bush/ Albuquerque Journal)
UNM freshman Beatriz Sanchez, 19, from Houston, Texas, moves in her belongings into her dorm room during move-in-day to start the fall semester on the UNM campus in Albuquerque, NM, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Chancey Bush/ Albuquerque Journal)
UNM freshman Laneah Rodriguez moves into her dorm room with her deaf dachshund Luca during the start of move-in-day on the UNM campus in Albuquerque, NM, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Chancey Bush/ Albuquerque Journal)
UNM sophomore Katie Hurd, 19, moves in her belongings into her dorm during move-in-day to start the fall semester on the UNM campus in Albuquerque, NM, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Chancey Bush/ Albuquerque Journal)
UNM junior Maddie Gomez, 20, moves in her belongings into her dorm room during move-in-day to start the fall semester on the UNM campus in Albuquerque, NM, on Thursday, August 18, 2022. (Chancey Bush/ Albuquerque Journal)
Copyright © 2022 Albuquerque Journal
Katie Hurd grew up in Las Cruces and her family and friends went to New Mexico State University.
So when the 19-year-old chose to attend the University of New Mexico last fall because of its biology program and the scholarships she received, she felt like a traitor. But she doesn’t regret the decision.
Hurd said her experience has been amazing so far, noting that she’s learned a lot and made many new friends. She also appreciates the many opportunities to branch out outside of school that have come with moving to Albuquerque.
“It’s grown on me, I didn’t like it as much when I got here just because it’s bigger and a lot more stuff going on than Cruces,” Hurd said. “But once I got to know the city, I liked it, I have some family here and there’s a lot more to do.”
The sophomore was one of roughly 1,800 students who moved into UNM’s residence halls between Thursday and Sunday in preparation for Monday’s start to the fall semester.
“It’s really exciting to see these many faces back on campus,” said Megan Chibanga, UNM’s director of student housing and residence life. “It’s much more active and vibrant now that we got everyone back.”
With so many new and returning students flowing through the campus streets, Chibanga said a lot of them might be excited to leave home since the pandemic had many of them taking classes remotely.
UNM lifted its mask mandate on March 19. Students, faculty and staff are no longer required to wear a mask inside laboratories, studios, libraries, residence halls, dining facilities or the student union building. But they’re still required at health facilities, research spaces and on UNM shuttles, according to the university’s website.
With COVID-19 restrictions loosened, many students said they are eager to live on-campus, meet new people and get the college experience.
Michael Madrigal returned to UNM for his junior year. He chose to attend a college about 1,800 miles from his home state of Maryland because of the UNM film program. He said the film scene in New Mexico is much bigger than in his home state.
Madrigal said he loves Albuquerque.
“Not only is Netflix here, but this is gonna be my chance to get out of a place where I’ve been for the last 15 years of my life, and really just start to make new connections and meet new people,” Madrigal said . “This year, with the amount of people living on campus, no better year for that.”
Madrigal gazed at the large number of students moving in with a big smile. He said it’s great to have so many students back.
“2020 was very much a year where not a lot of people were on campus,” Madrigal said. “There wasn’t a lot of activity – I mean students that lived here described it as a ghost town – and now not only are we back to levels of thriving, we are better than ever.”
For Maddie Gomez, sharing a living space with three other roommates in an apartment-style dorm has its ups and downs. She said she is an only child so sharing a living space with people her age was a big change.
“I think it honestly taught me a lot about living on my own and like taking care of myself, but also kind of how to live with other people,” Gomez said.
Overall, the sophomore is happy to be back on campus and looks forward to a semester that she hopes will be a lot more normal compared with the previous ones.
“My first year was totally online so I would be in these big lectures with, like, just blank screens. Like no one would turn on their cameras, I didn’t know helped the people,” Gomez said.
Nicholas Ganuelas, who is starting his second year at UNM, is also excited to be back on campus, especially with most of the COVID-19 fear easing. He recalled the hardships of making friends during his first couple of semesters and the moment masks started to come off, thinking “OK, do I really know you?”
Ganuelas is from Clovis, but not the one everyone here always thinks about. It’s actually Clovis, California. On Thursday, the big move-in day, he helped other students move into their rooms even though he’s not a resident assistant.
“I’m really liking it here, as far as UNM, it’s a cool school, and even Albuquerque, too. It has a little bit of crime, but like, you’ve got some beautiful, beautiful mountain views,” Ganuelas said.
Beatriz Sanchez was sporting a Houston T-shirt while unloading her belongings out of her family’s car. She comes from Texas for her first year of college and she said she’s excited but nervous at the same time to be on campus and share a dorm with someone she hasn’t met.
“I did choir during high school and my director in school actually directed me over here and I took a look online and I fell in love with it,” Sanchez said.
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She’s not sure what career she will pursue but is interested in psychology and psychiatry. At the moment, she was focused on a choir audition.
Laneah Rodriguez moved into her new dorm alongside Luca, her dog. She said she is very excited and ready to start her first year at UNM as a journalism major. She comes from Santa Fe and said that going anywhere else would have made her homesick.
Both Rodriguez and Luca will be sharing a dorm with another student who is bringing a dog of their own. Santa Clara Hall, where she’ll be living during her first semester, is a pet-friendly residence hall.
“You can bring a dog if you live in one of the pet friendly dorms or if it’s ESA, an emotional support animal,” Rodriguez said. “The pet policy is they can’t be over 40 pounds.”
She’s excited to begin her first semester in college.
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