Columbia students and their family members stood in long lines and pushed carts stacked with cardboard boxes into the residence halls this week, signaling the start of the new school year.
“I know the drill,” said junior cinema and television student Jauryn Franklin, who is from Peoria in central Illinois. Franklin has been staying at The Dwight for the past three years and lives in a private room.
“It feels a little bit more organized,” Franklin said, adding that the move-in process went smoother because of the time limit implemented on the wheeling carts.
Students are moving in from Monday to Thursday this week and again this weekend. No move-ins are scheduled for Friday, Sept. 1, when the college holds Convocation in Grant Park.
After signing their housing contract, students were asked to sign for a 20-minute move-in time slot to get their keys during move-in days. Students can bring up to three people to assist them during the move-in. The college does not provide students assistance for the move-in. However, families can borrow moving carts with a driver’s license or state ID for up to two hours.
Director of Housing Michelle Hunter-Lancaster said that Resident Advisors go through two weeks of training and a full day of preparation before move-in day. The 20-minute time slot for students to get their keys helps control traffic in the dorms, Hunter-Lancaster added.
“There’s a limited number of people that enter each of the buildings during each of our time slots,” Hunter-Lancaster said.
During this week, Resident Advisors will be hosting Welcome Week Events in each of the dorms for students.
Junior music major Richard Hernandez was not planning to move into the dorms this semester but signed up for housing at the last minute. “I was calling up places to see what they had, and they had a single studio apartment,” he said.
Hernandez’s friend, Cassidy Martinez, a senior music major, has helped him move into a few dorms in the past and she said it felt easier this time around.
First-year EmmaJane Bauer made the 14-hour trip from New Orleans with her parents, making it on time for their 8:20 a.m. slot at 30 East. “It was a little hectic this morning… but everything went smoothly,” Bauer said.
Her mother, Michelle Bauer, was having a hard time saying goodbye to her only child. “We’re gonna miss that company,” she said.
EmmaJane Bauer was excited to start her college experience at Columbia, where she is majoring in film and television. “I’m really looking forward to… be more creative and go out into the actual industry that I want to pursue as a career,” she said.
Spanish Digest:
Los estudiantes de Columbia comienzan a mudarse a las residencias. Las fechas de mudanza serán del 28 al 31 de Agosto y del 2 al 3 de Septiembre.
Después de firmar el contrato de vivienda, los estudiantes tenían que inscribirse en un horario de mudanza de 20 minutos desde las 8 a.m. hasta las 6:30 p.m., para recoger sus llaves.
Estudiante de primer año EmmaJane Bauer hizo el viaje de 14 horas desde Nueva Orleans con sus padres. Bauer escojio la residencia de 30 East y está emocionada de comenzar su experiencia universitaria en Columbia y especializarse en Cine y Televisión en el futuro.
