“I think it helps to (be out of the office welcoming students), and I’m just wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses and jeans because it’s not their image of a president,” Simon said. “I think it helps a little bit (for them to feel like they fit into such a big school).”

Physics freshman Adam Bolton said Simon going from dorm to dorm was a welcoming way to greet new students.

“I think a president should be approachable,” Bolton said. “(She was) trying to be one of the students.”

Chemical engineering freshman Katie Rohlfs and communication freshman Taylor Cnudde met for the first time Sunday when they moved into their dorm room in North Hubbard Hall.

While sharing an ice cream cone with Rohlfs and psychology freshman Taylor Dillon, Cnudde said she enjoys campus so far and that high school was good preparation for the transition to MSU.

“(I’m excited to) meet all these new people (and) to be in a different environment,” Cnudde said. “We all went to pretty big high schools, (so) it’s not much different.”

Rohlfs said there will be some adjustments from high school to college, including doubling down on studying.

As students prepare for the new year, MSU professors, such as astronomy professor Jack Baldwin, have their share of work to do.

Baldwin has taught at MSU for 12 years, and the beginning of each school year means a heavy workload for the veteran professor.

For his ISP course on astronomy, Baldwin uses many pictures, graphs and video clips in his lectures, which takes time to find, but putting all the content into a balanced schedule can be difficult.

“(I’m) figuring out a schedule that I can actually follow, at least roughly,” Baldwin said in an email. “There is too much to talk about, so the hard part is deciding what to leave out.”

For Provost Kim Wilcox, the new school year brings a certain type of energy to campus that gets him excited for all of the students, faculty and staff returning to campus.

“Everybody today is excited about their classes,” Wilcox said. “Nobody has flunked an exam. Nobody has been late with a paper. It’s all about opportunity, and that energy is pretty hard not to like.”