As students begin classes for the fall semester, energies are high and parking lots are full. The campus is alive with conversations and the sound of shuffling feet, as Moorpark College students find their way to their first or second class of the day.

Many students may be returning to continue their studies, while there are a great deal of new faces on campus that may not be familiar with their surroundings. With this comes a variety of first week experiences.

“The first day of school was good,” said Brisette Vasquez-Covarrubis, 18, psychology major. “I didn’t have any traffic on the way in, and classes are just starting to get interesting.”

Not all students have had success with traffic. Some have had difficulty navigating the limited parking lots. Environmental science major Emily Kotin, 17, experienced this issue first-hand.

“Parking was a nightmare,” said Kotin. “It took me 40 minutes to find a spot.”

Other students had issues with classes and professors. Criminal justice major Tatiana Layden, 19, describes her first week so far.

“My teacher didn’t show up, so I left after 30 minutes,” said Layden. “Its a good school [Moorpark College] and this is my fifth semester. I’ll probably do an internship next summer and transfer either to California Lutheran University or University of California Irvine.”

Having a positive mindset is the key to success for some beginning students. Psychology major Skyler Roche, 19, is starting her first semester at Moorpark with optimism.

“I’m a cheerleader here as well, it’s my first year here and I’m super excited,” said Roche.

These good moods can be contagious for students. Criminal justice major Iveti Iglesias, 25, observed as much on her first day of class.

“People here seem really nice and friendly; they just say hi randomly,” said Iglesias. “I’m still getting used to it.”

Despite all the issues that may arise during the first week of classes, Vasquez-Covarrubis is able to look past those problems and advocates concentrating on the course work ahead.

“Study a lot!” said Vasquez-Covarrubis.

Mary Altshuller, Martin Bilbao, Eric Caldwell, Ian Cohen, Danielle Garcia, Melvyn Thomas, and Ryder Mcconville contributed to this report.