But this year some students experienced a different kind of rush during the week leading up to the start of classes.
UNC-Chapel Hill Army Institute of Leadership officials provided heart-stopping activities throughout the week in an effort to unite cadets and allow new students a taste of what the program has to offer.
Sixteen cadets felt the full force of gravity from 14,000 feet as they jumped from a small blue King Air plane Thursday.
Heather Wildrick, first-year cadet and senior nursing student, shakily rose to her knees while the tandem skydiving jumpmaster secured their suits together, cracking jokes to ease the tension.
Wildrick was then ready to test her faith in a man she had met only minutes before. The cool wind rushed to her face as she took a deep breath and leaned over the edge of the plane, embarking on her eight-minute fall to the earth.
"The scariest part is looking out of the plane through the clouds and barely being able to see the ground," she said. "But once the initial fear is over, it's incredible."
The skydiving adventure at Carolina Sky Sports in Louisburg was the first in a series of team building exercises for the UNC-CH Army Institute of Leadership.
The institute officially kicked off the new school year the preceding day with the move in of cadets.
The Bell Tower became the springboard for the cadets Saturday as they bounded off the top, inciting stares and awe from passers-by. Lieutenant Jenny Budlong, a graduate of the program, encouraged other cadets to take the 80-foot plunge.
"It looks more intimidating than it actually is," she said.
"Once you get past the ledge it's not so bad."
Leaders tout pushing mental and physical boundaries as a main goal of the program.
Learning to master fear is one step in the process of developing the necessary leadership skills needed to be an officer in the U.S. Army.
After completing the four-year institute program, cadets enter the U.S. Army as second lieutenants.
"We are in the business of training leaders," Capt. Craig Marks said.
"The same leadership that takes soldiers into harm's way and brings them home again is the leadership that is successful in any corporation in America where they are fighting to `kill' the competition."
The institute, formerly known as Army ROTC, is undergoing changes that include new leadership, a new name and more scheduling options.
"Since most students or parents don't know what ROTC -- Reserve Officer Training Corps -- stands for, we changed the title to something students can put their arms around and understand," said Marks, an institute adviser and recruiting officer.
"As for the actual program, we are trying to make it smarter, more user-friendly and geared toward what a college student needs to know in the military."
In a effort to foster a positive image of the program, cadets helped freshmen move into their residence halls Saturday.
"In the eight years I have been moving my kids into their residence halls, I've never had anyone help me before," said Winston-Salem resident Betty Cain, who was moving her son into Morrison Residence Hall.
"I think it's wonderful."
"(The leadership is) much more hands-on and involved than last year's leaders," said Mark Ross, a senior and fourth-year cadet in the program.
"They are fostering an atmosphere in these first few days where we can compete against ourselves while at the same time have a lot of fun."
The institute also participated in Fall Fest, where cadets manned a rock climbing wall and a rope bridge for anyone who wished to participate.
"I think the kickoff was a great idea," said Josh Behsudi, a third-year member of the program.
"In prior years, we maybe just had a picnic on the Sunday or Monday before classes started -- nothing like this."
The Features Editor can be reached at features@unc.edu.
