Everyone can agree that moving day sucks. Add being a freshmen and having your embarrassing parents unload and kiss and hug you a million times before they leave and it sucks times ten. To help aid in the horrible cart stealing, back breaking, and stressful move in day, the University has started a new program called On Iowa! On Iowa! hired workers and volunteers help parents and students move in on Wednesday and Thursday. Now we already know it sucks to move in, double sucks to move in as a freshmen and is equivalent to Hell volunteering to move in thirty families. I volunteered my time to help residence and parents move in, for FOUR hours I watched as two hundred pound dads watched as I unloaded their car and pushed a wobbly wooden cart up to their dorm room. On Iowa! Did a great job of moving the new students in and for kicks I’ll let you know the good, the bad, and the ugly of the On Iowa! move in process.
The Good:
Students and parents had help and organization for moving in.
Students and parents had other people moving in for them (pretty nice)
Students and parents had helpful booths that showed them where to go, things students could join, and an entire booth dedicated to directions around campus.
Students were put into On Iowa! groups and got to meet not only their floors but also people in the rest of their residence halls.
On Iowa! Held activities all week for the incoming freshman including, a class picture, concert, scavenger hunt and even fireworks!
Students moved in within two days of each other so they could start out meeting new friends and roommates right away.
The Bad:
Students were only allowed to move in on two days, leaving a hefty fine if you moved in any other day.
Students were only allowed to move in on two days, leaving the dorms as chaotic as a zoo.
Students were not allowed to help volunteers… (JOKE, but it sure seemed that way)
Parking was unorganized for most of the day, and people could only park to move in for one hour.
The Ugly:
Me. Sweaty, stinky and stressed after volunteering.
Overall, On Iowa! did a great job of starting a new and semi-organized way of moving students in and an even better job of holding fun and engaging activities for incoming freshman. Let’s hope next year they warn volunteers about their jobs, and sort out the small kinks of the system!
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Iowa chapter.