The seven residential halls filled in Wednesday and Thursday as incoming students could be seen moving into their dormitories under the baking sun. After checking in and receiving their Wildcat Card, students ushered their belongings past various booths and new classmates to their new home.
A total of 1,772 students arrived to move into their residence halls, with 100% of the dorm rooms full, according to Public Relations Director Andrew Staples.
University Housing has been preparing for Move-In Day since students left at the end of Spring semester. Over 53 full-time staff, 48 resident assistants and 100 student volunteers helped students find where they were going, move their belongings and get prepared for the Fall semester.
For many students, meeting their roommate can be intimidating. They have the potential to become a close friend who helps ease the transition into a new environment, or they can become a messy burden and a great horror story to tell.
Freshman Lexi O’Rourke, studying nutrition, was excited to meet her new roommate. She chose Chico because of proximity to family and the “great vibe” of campus, citing the river and the people.
Freshmen roommates Alejandro Moorehead and Jacob Jimenez-Lopez, are majoring in criminal justice and political science, respectively. They left the move in behind and went to explore their new campus together, both sharing that they were excited to meet people, but are worried about balancing classwork with their social life.
“I like him so far,” Jimenez-Lopez said about Moorehead.
Not everyone who moved into University Housing is a freshman. Some transfer students also stepped onto their new campus today.
Benny Dinh, a transfer student majoring in music industry and technology, shared his excitement for beginning the new semester.
“I want to become an audio producer, songwriter or something audio related in Hollywood,” Dinh said. He felt that the music program at Chico State was the best match for his aspirations. “I can’t wait to start.”
Another transfer student, Chase Varvayanisa, is studying computer information systems. Chico caught his eye because it’s so easy to get around on foot or bicycle. He isn’t living on campus, but strolled in to meet new people and get a feel for the campus.
After moving in, many students could be found with families and friends cruising around campus to explore where they would be spending the majority of their time at Chico State.
Booths from Target, local church groups, pop-up shops, Chico State services and more provided opportunities to win prizes and get free supplies for dormitories.
Varvayanisa was one of the 250 students that received a free bike helmet for registering their bicycle. Students also had the opportunity to win a U-lock in a raffle or pick up some free safety reflectors.
Community Service Officer Nathan Polhemus was at University Village encouraging new students to register their bike with University Police. Polhemus said that registering bikes makes it much easier to track them down if they are stolen, and encouraged students to invest in a U-lock opposed to a wire lock.
Of Chico’s bike thieves, Polhemus said, “They tend to go for the easiest option, they’re not stupid.”
Many students were on their way to the Wildcat Recreation Center to see the workout area, climbing gym and the other amenities offered there. Freshman Liam Lawrence is studying business management. He headed straight to the WREC’s pool to cool off.
As the day carried on and the temperature rose, the crowd of students and their families slowly thinned out. New students ventured out of their dormitories to go explore the campus with friends, family or their new roommates.
Chico State Move-In is a two day event with students moving into their dormitory Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Chris Hutton can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected]
