Move In Day

It’s 5 A.M., your alarm goes off and you jump out of bed.  Everything is already packed in the car ready to go.  The previous night you laid out your outfit for the day.  You feel the excitement rush through you as you get dressed.  The rest of your family is still asleep.  But this isn’t a normal day for you, you are about to embark on a brand new adventure.

It’s move in day!  This is the day that I (Victoria) had been excited for ever since I discovered William Woods University.  As a little background, I discovered WWU at the Illinois Horse Fair during my sophomore year of high school.  Let me be honest, it was the perfect college.  They are a small, private college located in a little Missouri town.  Hearing about their equine program was amazing!  It was the thing that got me most excited about them given that my degree is equestrian science.  When it came time to apply to colleges, WWU was the only one I applied for.  (I recommend erring on the side of caution and applying to more than one college.)  Obviously, I was fortunate enough to be accepted.

Flash forward to move in day, I was extremely happy to be attending my first-choice college.  It was a two-hour drive from my Illinois town to WWU.  But let me tell you, it was a busy day!  People were everywhere and everything seemed chaotic.  So I’d like to lay out few lessons I learned throughout that day.

The first lesson is to have patience.  Like I said, the day will be busy and chaotic.  If you’re anything like me, you’ll find that stressful and pressuring.  But you just need to relax, enjoy move in day, meet some new people and have fun!

Secondly, your room will be a mess.  I’m a bit of a neat freak, I want things neat and organized.  I also had this vision of getting my room unpacked and organized in the three hours allotted to that chore.  Some people managed to get their stuff unpacked and room decently organized but don’t fret if this isn’t you!  It all goes back to patience.  It is currently (at the time of writing this) the third week of school and my room is neatly organized.

The final lesson is that the day will end eventually.  Yes, I promise the day will end and you will get some sleep.  I don’t know how other colleges plan things, but WWU had events planned out for freshman in the evening after parents left.  I don’t remember exactly when I went to bed but it probably wasn’t until nearly 11 or later.  That certainly is a long day when you’ve been up since 5 A.M.  And I am definitely a morning person and not a night owl.  I promise you will appreciate the bed you are in once you go to bed though!

The biggest thing to remember is, while move-in day is busy, it is an exciting new time in your life.

Did I miss anything? what do you remember most about your move in day?

~Victoria