Many students have found parking with greater ease for the spring semester.

For Ashley Lashbrook, 21, Biology major, parking Tuesday morning was comparable to previous semesters but still manageable.

“I got here at 9 a.m. and that was a little difficult because everyone is here but it wasn’t too bad,” Lashbrook said.

Students arrived to a rain soaked campus on the first two days of the spring semester. Parking was not as difficult to find during the early morning hours, however the main lots did get crowded by around 10 p.m.

Compared to the previous semester, the parking situation has been notably easier for students. Enrollment dropped from 5,195 in the fall to 4,765 this spring, according to preliminary enrollment numbers. The spring semester commonly has lower enrollment than the fall on average.

Jesus Isabeles, 22, Photography major, is taking a full course load this semester and feels like he is off to a good start. Although Isabeles does not have to drive himself to the college, he still heard that parking has been easier than previous semesters.

“From what I’ve heard, parking has been alright this semester as opposed to fall when everyone from the high school comes,” Isabeles said.

Still other students like Alexis Sanchez, a 19-year-old sophomore, expressed frustration at the parking situation.

“[Parking was] absolutely terrible,” Sanchez said. “But I only have one class today so that makes up for it.”

Sanchez is planning on finishing her general education requirements this semester. Although she is an art major, the social psychology class that Moorpark offers has already spiked her interest.

“[My class was] pretty good,” Sanchez said. “It was social psych and the professor seems really cool.”

Rain met students as they arrived on campus for the spring semester, prompting social media posts under #moorparkcollege.

“First class of the new semester and it’s already cancelled,” totesAaron tweeted early Monday morning.

Over on Instagram, students posted photos of rainbows over campus. “1st day back from winter break and there’s a rainbow over my building! Makes coming back a little easier…” scenic_path wrote.

Class cancellations and professor absences during the first week of Moorpark College’s Spring semester prompted students to tweet their grievances.

“First day of school woke up for my 7 a.m. class and the instructor didn’t show up good ol Moorpark College,” Silenttortuga1 wrote.

Sarah Hurtado, a 28-year-old Early Childhood Education major, had an easy first day. She quickly found parking in the AC building early Tuesday morning.

“I actually got really lucky,” Hurtado said. “I pulled up to the AC building and had found parking. I think someone is looking out for me.”

Darcy Banks, a 29-year-old second semester student at Moorpark College is also having an easy going first week back to school. She is taking her prerequisites to get into Nursing but is hoping to resolve schedule conflicts.

“I’m trying to switch my schedule because I have a stats class from 7 to 9 p.m. at night,” Banks said. “I didn’t read the times right. I thought it was morning. I need to switch out into something else.”

Banks has had no trouble finding parking and tries to schedule her classes around less popular traffic times.

“Luckily I have had no trouble finding parking,” Banks said. “When I sign up for classes I always try to enroll in classes that start early or late afternoon/ evening because that’s when the parking seems to be more mellow.”

For Rebecca Lee, a 20-year-old second semester student, the first day started well. She found parking easily for her first class. Once she got to class, she found an empty classroom.

“My first class got cancelled and I showed up an hour early too,” Lee said. “Thankfully, finding parking wasn’t bad since I got here super early so I wouldn’t hit the parking lot traffic.”

Danielle Migliare, a 21-year-old, Liberal studies major, found parking with no problem. She is eager to finish up her studies at the college.

“I am so excited since this is my last semester at Moorpark,” Migilare said. “I got here super early almost two hours so I don’t have to stress about parking.”

Elizabeth White, 20-year-old History major, has had a pretty easy going semester so far. She is taking multiple history courses including History of American Women, which she finds to be very interesting. She likes her classes and hasn’t experienced any problems with parking.

“I get here around 8 a.m., so parking isn’t really an issue for me,” White said. “My teacher for History of American Women is really funny.”

With more parking and weather changes, student Oscar Raos felt that this semester would be different from the last.

“Last semester was crazy tough,” Raos said. “This semester is more relaxed. Even the professors seem more chill.”

For Sulayman Ghafarzaba, his first day back did not go as well as he had hoped. He attempted to register for a statistics course that was at maximum capacity. He arrived Tuesday with the hope of petitioning for the course.

“I arrived at 8 a.m. this morning so the parking wasn’t bad,” Ghafarzaba said. “But I didn’t end up getting into one of my classes.”

Simi Valley resident Salvador Valdez has been having a smooth experience with his return to Moorpark College this semester. He has an early start at 8 a.m. and has been enjoying his english and photography classes so far.

“I’m a freshman so it’s my first year, and I really haven’t had any trouble at all,” Valdez said. “I was able to find parking easily too.”

Ellery Baker, Briana Barajas, Stephanie Lamore, Dennise Cardenas, Marcela Klipp, Kevin Bell, Emily Nelissen, Darya Abbassi, Mikayla Cornwall, Kelly Mehrvaj, Hannah Elders, Ryan Ketcham, and Kendall Sattler contributed to this report.