UC Santa Barbara students are making their way back to campus and Isla Vista before classes start on Thursday.  

First-year students will be moving into their dorms this weekend, while continuing students will slowly make their way back to Isla Vista and nearby neighborhoods, if they haven’t already. 

Third-year UCSB student Marissa Ortiz got to town early to avoid the chaos of moving in right before classes start. 

“We got here pretty early on so we’ve been able to slowly move in, but I know that next week it’s gonna get hectic,” Ortiz said. 

Last school year was anything but normal for the UCSB and Isla Vista community. 

Like other universities across the country, students protesting the war between Israel and Palestine set up an encampment and issued demands to the university.

The encampment, known as the UCSB Liberated Zone, was the longest-standing encampment in the UC system, lasting more than 50 days before police dismantled the encampment and arrested five people earlier this summer. 

Third-year student Sophia Navarro said that despite everything that happened, things feel pretty normal going into the new year. 

“I know that UCSB is kind of doing a lot to keep us safe and everything, so it feels pretty normal to be back here,” Navarro said. “There’s a lot of talk about it, but it’s pretty normal.”

Last year, the Isla Vista community faced an increase in bluff safety issues. Just a few weeks before classes began at UCSB, 19-year-old Santa Barbara City College student Benny Schurmer died after falling from the bluffs.

In April, 23-year-old UCSB alum Jacob Parker died after falling from the cliffs. The two deaths prompted new safety measures such as increased fence heights for properties along the bluffs. 

Navarro said she has friends who live along Del Playa Drive and that she’s glad to see more people talking about how dangerous the bluffs can be. 

“There definitely could be more done, but at least it’s not being hidden by the school or by anyone, so it’s good to know that there’s a lot of talk about it, a lot of stuff people want to do to keep us safe,” Navarro said. “I don’t really personally feel unsafe, but also I’m not gonna do anything dumb over there.”

For students who got to town early, they had the chance to go to the Isla Vista Community Services District’s move-in sale that was held earlier this week. Hundreds of household items including furniture, kitchenware and electronics were available at low costs. 

Jenna Norton, Isla Vista Beautiful’s program manager, said that all of the items at the sale were left over from donations to the Give Benefit sale that happened during move-out. 

“What we did was we took items left over from the give sale and we stored them over the summer, and now we’re just selling them back to the community for super cheap prices,” Norton said. “Most of the stuff, if it wasn’t sold, it would have just gone to the landfill. So our goal is to recirculate it all back into the community of Isla Vista.”

Norton said some items left on sidewalks and street curbs during move-out were also collected for the sale. 

For students looking for items for their new living accommodations, Norton suggests getting better quality items that will last a long time.

“I think that when you’re buying items, try and get the better quality item if you can, because it’s going to last longer and it’ll end up saving you money in the long run, and it will lessen the impact on our landfill,” Norton said. 

Other move-in advice Norton gives to students is to have a plan for what to do with their items when they buy them, whether it be keeping them for the next year, donating or selling. She also recommends taking care of items and keeping them clean if wanting to give them to someone else.

“Just make sure that when you’re going to dispose of your items or donate your items, just please do it properly,” Norton said. “If you are giving away shoes or bed frames, make sure that all the pieces are together, the pairs of shoes are taped or tied together. Just do what you can to give your items the best chance possible to find a new home.”