TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Bakersfield College experienced one of its busiest first days ever when school resumed Monday morning.

The parking lots hovered at capacity. Young adults with backpacks could be seen walking to the main campus from several blocks away. Students waited in lines to purchase books for the semester.

"It was chaos," student Sandra Velasquez said.

More than 18,000 students had enrolled at BC as of last week, close to the record of 19,000-plus set in 2008, spokeswoman Amber Chiang said.

In 2009, about 16,500 students were enrolled.

The community college has hired 13 new faculty members and is currently offering 42 more classes than it did last fall, but even that "just isn't enough," Chiang said. "It's very hard to get the classes you need."

Klint Rigby, a six-year professor at BC, said nearly all of his drafting classes are full, with additional students hoping to squeak in from the wait list.

"Pretty much every class is wait-listed," Rigby said. "I knew it was going to be insane."

Even for students who didn't have trouble with course registration, it was somewhat difficult to get to class Monday.

About 300 parking spots are currently unavailable because of the college's solar panel project, Chiang said, pushing even more student traffic into the surrounding neighborhoods. The construction is expected to be completed by the end of October, she said.

In phone calls the last two weeks, BC warned its students about the parking restrictions and encouraged them to take alternative modes of transportation.

Rigby said he could've parked in one of the staff lots but instead rode his bike to campus to avoid the congestion.

David Pennington, a second-year psychology major, said the southwest parking lot was already filling up when he drove in about 40 minutes before his 8 a.m. class Monday morning.

And the campus, he said, was just as crowded.

"I've never seen the quad that full," Pennington said.

So why the surge in students?

Many people on campus Monday cited the economic downturn and the relative affordability of classes as reasons for attending BC.

Second-year engineering student Ogonna Obinwa, who works as a pasteurizer for Nestle, sees his BC education as added insurance.

"The economy is scary," he said. "I don't feel very secure, so I'm going to school."

The average student is 24 years old, Chiang said, suggesting that many people have returned to school to build their resumes or change their career paths altogether.

Janelle Rhodes, 49, is attending BC for its culinary arts program. She had worked in customer service but thought it wasn't too late to take up her passion.

Rhodes and thousands of other students jostled for seats on the first day of classes, all of them seemingly fighting for an edge in a tough job market.

"It's really a great barometer for the state (of affairs) of California," Chiang said. "People are feeling the pinch."