Dorms were unaffected by a 35-minute power outage across campus on Freshmen Move-in Day, allowing more than 3,000 freshmen and their families to move into the dorms without a hitch and with a high turnout of student volunteers.
Jenn Doughty, manager of administrative operations, said Housing and Food Services was excited to welcome new students to the OU community.
Julia Hammond, elementary education sophomore, said she volunteered to help freshmen move in because she knows how stressful it can be. Hammond said she noticed how relaxed and smooth this move-in day was compared to last year when she was a freshman.
“I feel like there’s a lot of more volunteers this year,” Hammond said. “There’s a lot of volunteers wandering aimlessly around because there’s so many. I remember last year there were only two volunteers in my parking lot.”
There was a smile on Beth Bareford’s face as she waited for her son, University College freshman Jeremy Bareford, to pick up his room keys. Beth said everyone was helpful in giving her information about where they needed to go and what to do.
“I’ve figured you all had done this a million times,” Beth said, “It wasn’t going to be problem.”
There was neither a morning nor afternoon rush. Occasionally, the lines at the housing information and room key pick-up tent would stretch across the Walker-Adams Mall for a few minutes, then quickly go away. Blanca Huizar also found herself waiting for her daughter, University College freshman Karina Huizar, to pick up housing information and room keys.
“Everything is good,” Blanca said, “I found a parking lot. We parked very far away though.”
Karina admitted she was nervous about moving into the dorms. So did University College freshman Megan Lindsay. Lindsay said she was both nervous excited, since she didn’t know exactly what she should be doing. Her mother, Debra Lindsay, said she is excited to see her daughter move in, but understands Megan’s mixed feelings.
“She has friends who have already posted some pictures of their rooms,” Debra said, referring to sorority rush students. “It helped her get excited.”
Video
Move-In Day 2010
Freshmen move in to their new homes at the University of Oklahoma.
Many parents, including Debra, thought it was easy to get to Norman despite construction. She said parking wasn’t too difficult to find either. Debra said the family took three cars, but it only took 10 minutes to find parking for all three.
Jisu Park, zoology junior, an international student from South Korea, said she’s excited about this year and hopes to meet many new people.
She said she moved in Wednesday, but the freshman move-in day with all its activities has been both helpful and fun. Lauren Royston, Housing and Food Services spokeswoman, said Student Life has a student-services tent between Couch Restaurants and the Walker-Adams Mall. Royston said as soon as students have checked into their rooms, they are able to enjoy Sooner Orientation weekend festivities.
“Students and families are invited to stay on the Walker-Adams Mall well into the evening hours Thursday night following the official Convocation Ceremony to enjoy food, ice cream and time to visit within their new home away from home,” Royston said. “Sooner Orientation Weekend also includes the Friday evening Norman Sooner Kick Off and Saturday events, such as UPB’s Night at the Union — a taste of OU, and the exclusive after-hours Target shopping trip.”
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Steven Zoeller 1 year, 9 months ago
I would have to expand my vocabulary to describe how sore I was after carrying all my luggage to the dorm. Cate Center doesn't have any elevators, so that just made things a little more taxing. All that aside, I was impressed by the amount of helpful volunteers. They definitely made my experience feel more natural.