With her bed made, her closet full and some water bottles in the half fridge, which she’ll share with a roommate she has not yet met, Maggie Weaver turned her attention to a blank wall in her Lawrence Hall room.
Melanie Koster, Chandler Campany, Sarah Weissmiller and Amanda Becker were among more than 100 volunteers at Thursday's student move-in event.
“I like to get it done,” she said, unrolling a poster of the Eiffel Tower.
Weaver, of Franklin, is a triplet. Her brother just moved into a room downstairs. Their sister is in Perry Hall. She has the same Eiffel Tower poster on her wall.
Kevin Kronenwetter hung a “Dumb and Dumber” poster – a gift from his sister, who had it in her room as a student at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. His mother, Anne Kronenwetter, stood at the door, holding a tray of homemade pepperoni rolls. There wasn’t yet a place to set them.
Move-in day is always a bit of a mess. Laundry baskets crowd the beds. TV boxes pile up in the hallways.
There’s plenty of help. More than 100 volunteers – resident assistants and orientation leaders, mostly – cheer when each car rolls up. Then they grab boxes.
“It really is a team effort,” said Amanda Blaugher, the Residence Life coordinator for Niagara and Lawrence halls. “By the time the new students sign in and get their keys, all their stuff already is moved in.”
Then the roommate negotiations begin: left side, or right? Bunk beds, or separates?
“It all works out,” said Jocelyn O’Donnell, a resident assistant in the student apartments. She spent the day carrying hampers and clothes hangers. She smiled the whole time.
“This is fun,” she said. “We’re excited to get everybody back in.”