Move in date: Thursday, August 18th, 2016.
The weeks leading up to move in day had us feeling like college was just a thought that was in the distance, that we had forever to prepare for everything to come. However, that wasn't the case. The few weeks before move in flew by, and I mean it in the sense that it basically was equivalent to going 95 miles per hour on a highway and arriving at your destination an hour early.
The few days leading up to move in are weird. In all honesty, there is no other way to describe it. I think that as new freshmen, we have the mindset where we know that in just 72 hours we will be headed to the college of our dreams, but we can't actually process it. Although we are ready to leave, it doesn't actually feel like we are leaving quite yet. We'll make a HUGE list of things that we want/need to get accomplished before we leave, but don't worry, we won't even get half of it done. We try to be as organized as possible with our growing mountain of stuff we have to pack, but we will still forget one or two of the essentials. We'll tell ourselves not to save packing until the last day or night, but guess what ... we will be packing five hours out from leaving (which I don't recommend to do haha). Deep down, we know that we aren't leaving and never coming back, but it sure does feel that way. The tears will attempt to come out, and some of us will push them away while others will let that river flow. Do not feel bad if you don't cry, and don't feel bad if you do cry. When it comes down to it, we are all leaving places and people that have become comfortable to us and then jumping into a very new and uncomfortable situation. It's normal to be slightly scared by that.
The night before move in is an interesting one. Most of us will spend our last night with our family, friends or both. We'll have the "last" hoorah will the people we love most, but in the moment it still doesn't feel like the next morning we'll be off to college. It's eye opening and sad to realize that our friends and family who were only minutes and a phone call away are now going to be hours and a FaceTime call away. The comfortability of having our friends only be up the road from us is lost, and that realization is what makes us so sad.
The drive to move in is, not going to lie, emotional. Although my exterior may not have portrayed it, the amount of emotions I felt was immense. The drive going to move in had us feeling happy, sad, nervous, anxious, giddy, excited and many more. Even at this moment though, we still questioned if we were actually on our way to college or just a vacation.
Moving in is a wreck. Not necessarily in a bad way, just in a flustered way. There are so many people with a lot of luggage. We spend a few moments questioning if we should wait for the elevator or trek it all the way up to our new home. When we actually bring everything into our tiny new space, we wonder if our parents are right when they told us we overpacked. After hours of everyone moving in and out, it seems like everything finally has a spot, despite our fathers telling us multiple times we overpacked (especially on shoes and clothing, right ladies?). When we step back and admire this new space, that's when it finally hits us. This isn't just a summer camp we are attending; this is the real deal. Saying goodbye to our parents right before they head back home without you was the hardest part of the day (yes, even worse than de-lofting or lofting the beds). But don't worry, you'll see them soon. Welcome to our new home. Let's hope we enjoy it!
