Moving in signals return to a college lifestyle

By Martha Spalding

Moving is a pain. I know from too much experience.

Perhaps I’m a tad stubborn, but this year instead of enlisting help from my burlier male counterparts, I decided to move out of my old apartment and into my new one all by myself.

I wouldn’t recommend it.

I am bruised, bloody, swollen and in a perpetual sate of sleepiness. And, since I am basically out of commission, my new apartment remains messy and undecorated. It’s terrible.

So my hearts go out to all of you who must spend the next few days packing boxes, loading up vehicles and making the trek to Champaign-Urbana only to unload all of your hard work.

Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!

  • Catch the latest on University of Illinois news, sports, and more. Delivered every weekday.
  • Stay up to date on all things Illini sports. Delivered every Monday.
Thank you for subscribing!

But move-in time can also be fun. It signals a return to the college lifestyle. Skipping class, Thirsty Thursdays and getting your own space for all of the “private time” you may need are just some of the benefits to be reaped from the start of fall semester. Not only that, but classes don’t start for another week and a half. Live it up.

In case you need some assistance, here are a few of my favorite ways to spend my days before the grueling coursework and nagging professors latch hold.

  • Go outside. It’s gorgeous. Before the depths of the Undergraduate Library consume your soul, take a moment and breathe the fresh air. Take a blanket out to the Quad and do nothing but soak up some rays.
  • Spend an entire day in bed, preferably with that special someone. You can eat food, watch movies and think only about who gets to decide what the next movie will be.
  • Drink it up. You have no class the next morning. Classes won’t get in the way of your hangover. Really, what’s stopping you?
  • Rent a paddleboat. Or a kayak or rowboat. Every Sunday, Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve has free rentals. Anytime you can locate large, fresh bodies of water around here, you should do everything you can to get there.
  • Take a ride out to Rantoul and watch the Illini get their game on. Football practices are open to the public, and really, who doesn’t want to see muscled men in tight pants throw the old pigskin around?
  • Get to know your new neighbors by setting up a bags game in your apartment courtyard. Everybody loves to throw beans around and it’s an easy way to break the ice.
  • Visit friends. You may have just gotten to campus, but you know that any visits you plan to make later in the year won’t happen because of projects. Take the time now and enjoy a whole other campus with no classes.
  • “Now if you’re feelin’ kinda low ’bout the dues you’ve been paying/Futures coming much too slow … ” Turn up some Boston and spend the afternoon getting your groove on in your underwear. There’s nothing better than hearing Brad Delp’s voice.

Just remember: Find a burly man to help you make the moving process easy. Doing it alone will only end up hurting.

And burly men out there: Help a girl out and carry her TV and boxes of shoes for her. I’m sure she’ll thank you.