Roughly four thousand new students moved into LSU on Saturday, including Chemical Engineering major Kaitlyn Cameron.

Cameron was born in China. When she was 13 months old, two aspiring parents adopted her into their family and made the United States her home.

“[I’m] thinking back to when she was a baby, getting her from China and holding her for the first time… Now she’s walking in to her first college dorm,” Cameron’s dad, Bob, said.

Now, 17 years later, she’s found her home away from home at LSU.

“I’m very excited! It’s going to be a new experience and a new environment,” she said.

Both of her parents say they are proud, but for different reasons.

“Today has been a mix of emotions because it’s my baby going off to school, but at the same time shes starting a new chapter of her life and so it’s really exciting for us to see her grow and go on,” her dad said.

Cameron’s mom, Patti, graduated from LSU nearly 30 years ago. She says its surreal seeing her baby girl at her Alma mater.

“I remember all of the great times that I had here and I hope that she enjoys it every bit as much as I did,” Patti said.

Reliving her glory days, Patti says she’s happy her daughter will love purple and live gold just as much as she does.

“This is home and she didn’t need to get too far away from home to get the education she wanted,” Patti said.

Cameron’s father is an electrical engineer in Baton Rouge. He was ecstatic when he found out his only daughter would be following in his footsteps by also going to school to be an electrical engineer.

“I didn’t want to push her. Her natural interests were math and science so she chose it and I’m really excited that shes choosing that path,” he said.

Going to work with her dad from time to time, Cameron says she knew this was the path for her.

“I’ve gone with him multiple times up to Dow Chemical and I’ve just sat with him and watched him. [We had] daddy daughter bonding and learning more about careers.

Now that this new chapter is about to begin she says she’s privileged to be able to say ‘Geaux Tigers.’

The fall semester kicks off Monday, August 26.