It was a big day for apple boxes, pushcarts, awkward goodbyes and new beginnings.
Thursday was official move-in day at Minnesota State Mankato. Slow moving cars guided by whistles and arrows across campus pulled into and parked (temporarily!!) at residence halls to deliver students from near and far.
By 10:30, Residential Life Director Cindy Janney was in good spirts. This was her 23rd move-in and each one, she said, continues to improve in terms of smooth-ness. She credited the collaboration that goes into it for months prior.
“There are multiple plans,” Janney said. “There is a plan for how the traffic will work. There’s plan for how the volunteers will work. There’s a plan for T-shirts. There’s a plan for what the staffing will do….there’s an outside-of-the-building plan and there’s an inside-of-the-building plan for how we’ll welcome people. Between Facilities and Residential Life, we’re working really hard to make this opening day go well.”
Vital to that happening were the volunteers with the Stomper Move Crew, students in Purple T-shirts ready to haul the furniture, fridges, microwaves and more out of every vehicle that pulled up.
“It’s a nice thing to volunteer for on campus,” said Move Crew member Alyssa Sanford, who along with her fellow Alpha Signa Alpha sorority members were greeting cars that pulled up along Ellis Avenue to unload. Further down, another crew was impressing a mom with serious pushcart stacking skills.
“You guys know what you’re doing,” said Kim Miland, who was helping move her daughter Megan into the Preska residence hall. The two arrived in the morning from Melrose, Minn. where Kim will return without her only daughter – and the first one in the family to go to college.
Not everyone was moving in for the first time. Thursday marked Charles Ward’s third year moving into a residence hall. He said he likes the easy social aspect of it — “You get people you can do stuff with, play basketball, go to the gym,” he said. Studying electrical engineering, he was inspired to enroll at Minnesota State by his cousin, former Maverick football player Randy Earl.
“It’s exciting,” Kim said. “It’s scary. But I’m excited for her.”
Transfer student Faith Adebayo and her cousin Ike Ojo, a Minnesota State alum, moved Faith into her McElroy room. Faith transferred to Minnesota State to join the nursing program. “It’s very competitive and I wanted something that’s challenging.” Her cousin recommended it highly as well. “Everyone’s friendly and it’s very diverse,” Ojo said, “so it’s a pretty good university to go to.”
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