''He's our baby," says Destiny Nguyen, his sister. "We don't want him to leave but, he needs to get an education. We all support him coming up here. It was a 5 1/2 hour drive, but well worth it. Our freshman class of 2029.''
There was pride, excitement and even nerves as more than 4,000 students moved onto the UC Merced campus for the Fall semester.
''Every person that joins our community adds something new, so every time someone joins our community, our community changes and gets better," says Executive Director of Resident Services, Chad Pettay.
Yellow bins were filled with boxes, carrying dreams for the future.
''In four years, I hope to be graduating with a degree in biomechanics or biomed, so after that, I want to help people," says Dylan Shin-Biehl.
It was a gamut of emotions for Hanna Rojas and her dad as they unpacked the car, coming from the Bay Area for her second year.
''I'm a very passionate person about what career I'm going into," she said. "Just knowing I'm on my journey to get there makes me really happy. I honestly can't do it without my parents. I feel very fortunate just to be here.''
The leap of faith will be well worth it when the students walk across the stage at graduation.
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