Students swarm the B-Y-U-I campus today...WALKING into their first class on the first day of the semester.

"I actually wasn't really excited at first,I didn't want to leave home but now I feel all grown up and it's so much fun here," says freshman Haley Smith.

This semester brings big on-campus changes, including a new food court, a new university campaign, and a new department.

"The opening of our new 18,000 square foot dining area, which we're calling the crossroads, it officially opens today, says BYU-ID News Services Supervisor, Andy Cargal. "it's great it seats up to 1200 students and we are expecting to feed about 1,000 students every half hour."

The Crossroads is three times bigger than the original dining area and features seven different eating venues.

With all the new additions to BYU this semester students seem most excited about the crossroads food court. However it's not just a dining experience, it's also a place to relax and be entertained.

Miss Rexburg, a junior at BYU-I, admits she can't wait to use the new facility.

"It's amazing it makes me want to eat here now, before I was just like oh, it's just a cafateria, it's just really nice, it encourages students to hang out here," says Miss Rexburg, Rebecca Boyle.

Administrators want to ecuate students about walking instead of driving to campus to reduce traffic congestion. So they launched a new campaign called "Drive or walk."

"One of the main purposes is just to encourage students and employees to just do more walking for a college campus. You can walk from one end to the other in just about 10 minutes," says Cargal.

Another big addition to the campus, the Academic Technology Services Department.

"It's created to be a one stop shop for employees, faculty and students to go for all their academically related technology needs," adds Cargal.

Students maKe it clear that- the food court is the university's number one improvement and can't wait to take advantage of it when they start their first assignments of the year.