BATON ROUGE – Students return to the classroom Monday at Southern University after a year of mainly online learning. The fall semester is bringing life back to the Bluff, and it is not just the students who are excited.

“I moved in last Monday,” said Raquan Poullard, a freshman at Southern University.
Poullard and his friend Deandre Galmore made the move to Baton Rouge for their freshman year from Lake Charles.

“There were two storms, and then the whole corona thing happened, so it was just a huge mess,” Galmore said.

After last year's hardships, they cannot wait to start their college career on a positive note.

“Everyone is so nice you don’t get any bad vibes from anyone,” Galmore said.

“Even the upperclassmen are cool,” Poullard added.

The pair of friends are not the only ones glad to see other students on campus.

“We have seen an increase compared to the summer months as of yesterday,” said Deidre Brown, the owner of Straight Outta Scotland.

Brown says her seafood business picks up when jaguars get back into town.

"It's very essential. The customers is what keeps us open,” Brown said.

She's cooking up seafood an extra day during the week to keep up with the returning customers, and she's making sure they can all afford the delicious meals offering a discount to those who show their student ID.

"That's the importance of letting them know that we're not so overpriced or we're able to offer you something at a reasonable price,” Brown said.

With good food and good company, many have been looking forward to finally starting their college experience.

"I'm going to go tour, find all of our classes. That's the main thing I want to know where I’m going on the first day,” said both Galmore and Poullard.

Those living on campus had to show proof of a vaccine or a negative COVD-19 test. Masks will be required indoors.