It's almost time to move into your home for the next eight months: your dorm room! This is an exciting day because you get to meet many of the people who will live on your hall: your roommate, your mentors (if you're a freshman) and your resident assistants (RAs). These will be some of the people that help you transition into college life and get used to being away from home in general. Depending on your school, this may be the day your parents go home and leave you. Here are a few things you need to know about move in day.
1. The rooms are small.
You may be expecting something bigger or smaller than what you get, so try not to be disappointed. The tiny room is only half yours; your roommate will have the same amount of room and may decide to "not have sides" or you may have a strict line in the room. The closets are also small so you don't need to bring your entire room with you to school. Some things will be needed when you go home on breaks but not kept at school.
2. Do the paperwork.
Try to get as much of the paperwork as you can finished before move in day because it will be crazy. When you are moving in people will tell you different things that need to be done. Things like getting your parking sticker, finalizing your schedule and making sure tuition is taken care of. Some schools allow you to take care of some or most of this before you get to school; this makes move-in day so much easier. Take the time to figure out what you need to have done and prioritize everything. Some things can wait until later in the week; some things must be done before classes start.
3. Talk to your RA and RD.
Seriously. Talk to them about anything they may need to know in case of an emergency. They are there to help. You can talk to them about any concerns that you may have about college life and learning to be somewhat on your own. All of the RAs have been through a lot of what you are feeling and doing; they can give advice on how to deal with many different things. Also, RAs are all trained in first aid and CPR (hopefully they wont need to use it) in case something happens.
4. Go to bed!
You need the sleep to make it through all of your classes throughout the day (most people also need lots of caffeine), and if you have time between classes, naps are great! Try to sleep as much as you can that first night, as hard as it may be. You'll be glad you did.
The last thing is good luck! I hope everyone has an amazing year!
