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STATESBORO, Ga. (WTOC) – As we have been covering a lot of back-to-school stories this past month it is officially time for local universities to start as well.

Wednesday, was the first day of class for Georgia Southern University.

WTOC was on campus to see how the first day went for both students and staff.

Wednesday marks the first day of classes for over 27,000 Georgia Southern students across all of their campuses.

We went to the Georgia Southern campus in Statesboro and checked in with students and faculty to see how the first day of class is going.

Many students we spoke to said they are looking forward to starting their core classes in a wide variety of majors.

“Intro to Criminal Justice,” said student, Maria Marin.

“Business Management here,” said student, Jimmy Fallstrom.

Tuesday night, the university kicked off their First in Flight event to welcome new students.

For the first day, the common challenge seemed to stay the same navigating campus.

“To just learn about the school and just not get lost around campus which…I just did,” said Marin.

However, faculty like Aileen Dowell the Dean of Students said they were prepared for this challenge.

“Today, is just going to be a lot of way-finding for students like where is this building, where is this class, how do I get there? So, actually today I’ll be helping with welcome tents that are all over campus. We have staff, students, and faculty pointing students to the right direction,” said Dowell.

Dowell said that for the more than 4,000 freshman, excited nerves are what makes this day so special.

“So today is going to be a lot of excitement, a lot of wow this is a new place, like how do I navigate it,” said Dowell.

Across campus, staff that have served this campus for years, like Chef Kathy Thomson, said that Wednesday is exciting because they get to see their beloved students again.

“I’m kinda like a mentor since I’m older and I kind of tell them the right thing, what to do, and go to school, graduate so you can get a good job so you can make some money. But I love them, I treat them like my own kids,” said Thomson.

University officials tell WTOC that their goal for the rest of the week is to make sure that the old and the new students are feel at home as much as possible.

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Kirby Smart has Georgia football ranked No. 1 entering the 2024 season, and it will take a lot of work for the Bulldogs to stay there with arguably the most demanding schedule in the nation ahead.

Smart likes to say “it all starts in the trenches,” and that leads to today’s DawgNation preview on the most important offensive lineman on the team. It will take a team effort and great continuity, regardless of which Bulldog lineman we’re evaluating.

Mike Griffith: “It starts at left tackle with Earnest Greene III protecting Carson Beck’s blind side. You have to protect the franchise player.”

Kaylee Mansell: I think (Tate Ratledge) will be the motivator to finally secure the Joe Moore Award as the best offensive line.

Jeff Sentell: “It’s the center of the team, it’s Jared Wilson. Georgia has to fill one hole on the offensive line and that’s Sedrick Van Pran Granger.

Connor Riley: Sedrick Van Pran Granger said he expects Wilson to be a better center than he was.”