On Move-In Day, my roommate and I woke up in our freshly made dorm room beds to the sound of stressed parents. Looking out the window, I saw the cause: a mile of cars trying to move toward the dorms. We got to relax on Move-In Day because we moved in the day before, and you should too.

Firstly, let’s explore some of the bad parts of moving in early. There is a fee that comes with moving in early, and it depends how many days early you would like to move in. The dining halls are also not open yet, so you’d have to hit up Green Street, or you’d have to make sure you have your mini fridge stocked.

You might be wondering to yourself, why would I leave the comfort of my own bed and my friends to move into a shoe box earlier than I have to, and pay for it? While I know this might seem weird, the benefits outweigh the costs.

Avoid the stress of the official move-in day

My roommate and I did not have to deal with the stress of figuring out parking and trying to find a moving cart.

If every single person who moved into the dorms only had one other person there to help them move in, it might not be so bad. But some students come with both parents, their five siblings, their Aunt Mary and their two cats. So, the elevators, the hallways and the lobby become full pretty quickly.

Not only that, but everyone knows too many cooks in the kitchen is a recipe for disaster. Not only will it be stressful for you as you’re moving into your new room for the next few months, but also for your parents, which we all know makes it even more stressful for you, which makes it more stressful for them. It’s just a vicious cycle of stress. Moving in a day early can relieve some of that stress for both you and your parents.

You get to explore the campus before it’s packed

Moving in a day early allowed my roommate and I to walk around the University before there were a ton of people on campus. We got lost looking for the Main Quad and lost trying to get back to our dorm. Having the campus being kind of empty made it seem a lot less scary. You can also use that extra time that day or even on Move-In Day to find the location of your classes.

You can get to know your roommate better

Arriving a day early also let my roommate and I get to know each other better. We were able to talk to each other as we continued to set up our room, and we both knew most people hadn’t moved in yet, so we walked up to Green Street to find something to eat. It truly let us relax and just hang out. We didn’t feel pressured to find something to do that night, so we were able to have the first of our many movie nights.

You can spend the Move-In Day doing other activities

While everyone else is stressing out about all of their clothes not fitting into their closet, you can spend the day doing other things. Some activities I can recommend are: tanning outside at the ARC pool, playing frisbee on the Main Quad or starting to look up some clubs you might be interested in joining on campus. While having one extra day to relax might not seem like that big of a deal, school starts very fast, and you’re going to want that day.

While there might be a fee to move in early, the benefits will make up for everything. So talk to your parents, get your roommate on board and move in early, you could be relaxing at the ARC on Move-In Day.

Kelly is a sophomore in Education 

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