Parents and students crowded the parking lots and streets around UNR today (Thursday). With the first day of classes coming up Monday, the university opened their residence halls for the start of the new school year, and we were there for all the excitement. In the large crowd of new freshmen, a new chapter was beginning for Emma Donovan. With family in tow, she began the first day of life away from home with the key to her new one…the clerk in the tent telling her, "If you have any questions about this later, you can check the key pocket..."
After a stop to regroup, Emma, her mom and 2 little sisters lugged the boxes and baskets to Nye Hall. And after a crowded elevator ride...she was home...the small room she'll share with a roommate. Beginning the unpacking, she told her family crew, "There should be one more box...a small box."
Emma, a freshman from Castro Valley, California, is here to get a degree in marketing…and can't wait to start the college life: "I'm just so excited to, you know, be on my own a little bit more and experience what college has to offer me."
Outside, UNR staffer Tim Wolfe has seen it all before in past years. Some things about moving day never change. As he put it, "Parents are excited that their sons are going to college, but the emotion hits them that 'oh my sons aren't going to be home anymore." While some things do: "The TVs used to be real heavy. Now they're lightweight, so it takes one person now for the TV instead of 2 and 3 or 4."
And there are more freshmen than ever: 10% more than last year and 40% more than 10 years ago. A record 3,100 will be living in dorms, which are at 120% capacity. Dorm rooms at Peavine Hall and Argenta Hall had to be converted from double rooms to triple. Because of the record crowd, Wolfe said, “Everybody gets a 20-minute appointment to get in and out for their rooms. That way, it’s all the way to 7:00 tonight."
Finally inside her new home, Emma checks out her small room made for 2, while her two little sisters, Ella and Amelia help put it together. Emma tells us roommate negotiations went well over who gets what side: "We both wanted the left orientation, but I took right because I'm a good sport. And we'll probably change our room around a lot too." And on this day, she is clearly psyched. "It’s a family school to me and I love the campus, and I can't wait to be here."
But mom…isn't quite so enthusiastic: “Ummmm....it's hard. It's an adjustment. But...I know she's excited, so we're excited for her."
Something else that hasn't changed...on moving day.
