Moving On In

It starts with the acceptance letter: the joy, the relief, the celebration. I applied Early Decision and it was certainly the best Christmas present ever—not only knowing that my college application (and more importantly the waiting period) had come to a close, but that it had ended with my dream school on the horizon. Then I realized what exactly that acceptance letter meant. Actually going to college, which had somehow slipped my mind. Sure I had toured and applied because I could see myself on W&M’s campus and because I was excited about who the students were and what they were like, but the actual process of moving in, and more importantly how to pack, had failed to occur to me.

Let me start by saying I was ridiculous during the move-in process. My family and I parked in front of my freshman dorm, Barrett Hall, at 5am (I am ashamed to have written that sentence). I was moving into a triple and I was excited to meet my two roommates in person after texting with them all summer, but I also wanted to stake out my bed and closet (the discussion of “to bunk or not to bunk” had never been resolved and I did not want to be climbing up to my bed every night). Don’t worry we all ended up lofting our beds anyway—I like to think that was karma winking at me and telling me to chill out.

Getting there so early, we decided to go get breakfast at a convenient store we passed on the way called Wawa. I would learn later of the legendary magic of this oddly named place for late night snacks and early morning coffee very soon. Walking up behind a group with Residence Life t-shirts, I was warmly welcomed and asked about how my trip here was, and where I was living by what turned out to be a group of freshman Resident Assistants. And as tends to happen in our beautiful, serendipitous W&M community, one of them was my very own RA! After meeting Tyler and having any anxiety about what my RA was going to be like put to rest with her warm smile, we continued on our way. Wawa was filled with bright-eyed students in t-shirts that read “Sweating for you!” — these turned out to be upper-classmen who volunteer every year and help the new students going through Move-in. After returning with the most important meal of the day in tow more cars had arrived (at a much saner time) and the countdown to 8am check-in began. It looked like the beginning of a flash mob with the trunks of all the cars opening simultaneously and revealing a plethora of bedding, clothes and toiletries.

Between families, new students and student volunteers the halls quickly filled with moving mini-fridges with legs and boxes of clothes and school supplies.

I share my ridiculous story to hopefully communicate the following message: there is no right way to plan your move in. Do what works for you and your family. Most importantly have patience. When you check into your hall your Orientation Aides and Resident Assistants will be excited to meet you and work hard to make the process as stress-free as possible.

Here are some concrete tips I would give:

• Wear clothes you aren’t afraid to sweat in (sure this is the first time you are meeting new hall mates but the sweat will be the great equalizer so don’t worry about being all dolled up)
• Plan ahead: know what time and where you can check in. There are also tons of packing tips and other info available on the website.
• Here are a few things NOT on the Packing list that I would recommend:
  • Rain boots, rain coat and an umbrella (Williamsburg rainstorms are great but bring boots and you’ll feel invincible)
  • Wristlet: great to have something that carries your phone, room key and student ID all in one!
  • Lots of underwear and socks: this will dictate how long you can go before doing laundry!
  • XL TWIN SHEETS (the beds are twin XL!)
  • First Aid Kit/General Medicine: Tylenol, Allergy Medicines, Band Aids, Neosporin, etc.
  • Bug spray
  • A few notebooks (Orientation is pretty busy, so it’s nice to have a few school supplies on hand for the first day of school)
  • Sewing kit and safety pins