The day you move into your freshman dorm is guaranteed to be the worst day of your college career. There are some exceptions, but if you're anything like me, move-in day might look something like this: after many hours of driving in a cramped car with exhausted mother, father, sister, and dog, you burst out of the cramped car to wait your turn at check-in. Once you have your key and figure out how to get to your room, you take multiple trips up and down stairs with heavy boxes, bags, suitcases, and you sneak the dog in with one of these boxes. Once everything is unloaded you find a parking spot since the cop is breathing down your neck telling you that you’ve run over your allotted fifteen minute unpacking time. You finally get back to your room to start putting things where they belong and your new roommate walks in getting a great first impression of you covered in sweat and yelling at your sister to get off the bed. Though I am a freshman myself, I have moved in twice since I came to my school for summer term as well as the fall semester. I have gathered a few tricks that will make moving in 90% stress free.
1. Don’t arrive on the day the halls open.
Classic mistake, you want to start school as soon as possible, but I promise waiting the extra day will mean that there will be less people checking and moving in at the same time.
2. Give yourself two days to move in.
If you have a lot of decorative plans for your space, this is key. Arrive in the late afternoon on the first day, everyone is either in their dorms already or has already left for their hotels. Your check-in will be easy breezy, and moving in your items will be a piece of cake. You can spend the entirety of the next day organizing your room.
3. After checking in, put your key on your keychain.
Or in a secure place on your person. My first time moving in, my key kept ending up entangled within my multiple crates and items, making walking in and out take way longer than it ever should.
4. Move provided furniture.
For fall semester I’m staying in an apartment style dorm, but for summer I stayed in a shared room. My roommate and I figured it wasn’t worth it to move most of the furniture in our room, however I can’t imagine staying in that room for an entire year. Make sure the layout allows for all your items to be easily accessible and leaves room for visiting friends.
5. Try to enjoy it.
I know it seems so frustrating to deal with other people’s inputs as you try to move everything, but these people, aka your family, are just trying to help you, and this is one of the few times during college you can still be dependent on them to help you. So, stay calm and enjoy these last few hours or days with your family. It will mean as much to you as it does to them.
