University of Michigan - The Michiganensian Yearbook

“E BACK STUDENTS " Our apartment was filthy and our landlords lied to us about tons of stuff, Brian Burstein, senior IOE major Headed into Mosher Jordan Residence Hall, a first-year student prepares for his first year on his own. For many first-year students, resident hall life gave them their first taste of freedom. photo by Krislen Stoner Before the trials and tribulations of classes, homework and exams even began, there was another obstacle for students returning to Ann Arbor for the school year: moving in. For incoming students moving into the residence halls, the transition could be chaotic. Although the University ' s housing Web site provided tips on what to bring and how to move, many first-year students still found the experience overwhelming. " Everyone was everywhere; you never really knew what was going on, " said Tim Holman, a first-year engineering student. " There ' s only so much room in your dorm, so you can ' t have everything you want. You can ' t bring everything from your own room. " During residence hall move-in, students and parents realized how exhausting future college moves would prove to be. " It took a lot longer than I thought it would, " said Emily Fox, an undeclared first-year student. Despite the lengthy move in, however, Fox still said the process was " fairly smooth. " For students living in houses and apartments, moving in carried even more responsibility. Not only did they have to take time to locate and choose a suitable place to live, but once they arrived, there were phone lines and utilities to set up and landlords to deal with. " It took me forever, " said Michelle Stocker, a junior geology major who moved into her first off-campus house in the fall. " My parents were here until 1 :30 a.m. I didn ' t have any food to start off with, so I had to go to Meijer ' s, and that took a long time. I didn ' t really know what I was supposed to be bringing, because I didn ' t know what was left after everybody else had moved out. " As a piccolo player in the marching band, Stocker had help from fellow band members while moving into her residence hall rooms during her first two years. " This time, it was just us, " she said. " There wasn ' t anyone to do it with you, show you the ropes. " Saad Siddiqui, a business administration junior, also moved into hisfirst apartment last fall. " When you go in the dorms, everything ' s ready for you: your phone, your cable, your Internet connection, stuff like that, " he said. " All you have to do is try and fit in all your stuff. Moving into an apartment has a ton of other responsibilities. You have to set up everything from scratch. " Sophomore history major Patrick Alach found that moving into hisfirst apartment waseasierthan residence hall life, especially since his housemates already had all the utilities set up. " It wasn ' t a big rush, " he explained. " In the dorms, there ' s a couple hundred of people in there trying to get their stuff in at once. The house is pretty low-key, just a couple of guys, so it ' s a lot smoother. " Whether students were first-years or seniors, on-campus or off-campus residents, moving in was one part of college life that was as unavoidable as final exams, huge lecture classes, term papers and moving out. p v Port-now Michigan Life | 13 ”