Preparations are underway for the first day of classes at Western Kentucky University.

Sunday was a busy one for many students, and WBKO talked with students heading to the Hill this school year.

"I'm coming to the realization that this is my last year," said Taryn Rice, who is a Senior at Western Kentucky University.

She says the beginning of the new school year brings the realization of the journey she's been on since she came to Bowling Green as a freshman three years ago.

"It's a huge growing process, and when I look back to how I was as a freshman, it's like I'm a totally different person," Rice said. "I've grown over each year."

That growth process has just begun for the class of 2012, who will start their college career on August 25, and the anticipation of the big day has freshman Dylan Wilson a little anxious.

"I'm just nervous because in high school you just show up to class, and you don't really do anything the first couple of days," he explained. "Here I'm expected to have all my books, and I don't have any of my books yet."

Senior Emily Brewster is familiar with those anxieties but says they're short lived.

"Now as a senior, you're just really excited to get back and be here one more year. To be here one more year with your friends is really exciting," she said, and her enthusiasm is shared by Kyle Mattingly, a freshman eager for a new beginning.

"It's exciting. It's definitely a new experience," he said. "It's something I've never done before, but I'm doing all right so far."

Familiar with that emotion, Taryn Rice can add some advice for WKU's freshman class.

"Just enjoy everything. Enjoy every bit of the time you have because it does fly by."

WKU was founded in 1906, making the school more than a century old. Now in 2008, student enrollment is now nearing the 18,000 mark.