The majority of students moving into Oregon State University’s residence halls last weekend were about to get their first taste of independence from their parents.
However, Jordan and Joshua Clements, two freshman twins, wanted independence from each other.
“We want a little bit more separation and (to) become more independent on our own,” the brothers said. “We’ve always been together and close so we want to get prepared for being separated … We’re still on the same campus so we get to see each other, talk and meet up.”
The twins are two of the 4,650 students who moved on to campus this weekend, each one of them feeling different emotions and with different reasons for choosing OSU.
The Clements, who will both be honor students majoring in engineering, said they chose OSU because it has the best engineering program in the state.
“We didn’t want to go too far from home, (OSU has) a really good engineering program and we know a lot of people coming here … even at our little school, we had a rocketry program and we’ve worked with OSU a few times and met up with their team and talked to them and collaborated with them,” the Clements added.
Some students met their roommates online before the move-in day. One student from Portland visited her future roommate over the summer with a nine hour flight all the way to Ocean Ridge, Florida.
Move-in was a little bit different for graduate and international students. International students, like Gaurav Singh and roommate Jamshed, two first-year graduate international students, did not have to live on campus for their first year. According to both students, they moved in two weeks before most students. They also expressed how it was hard to get here for the first time in a new country and how they miss their families.
“I think I’ve made some pretty good friends here … We are still connected to our families. We chat every day with them … I see a lot of events happening, I’m pretty excited that there is a bowling lane right in the university … I’ve been there three times already! The university seems really friendly and nice, the people around in town are really nice, ” the two of them said.
The situation was not the same for student-athletes, either. Kennedie Shuler, a student-athlete playing on the OSU women’s basketball team, said that all student-athletes moved in during June. They started training and went to Italy as a team in August.
“(Moving in) was good,” Shuler said. “It was smooth. My teammates all helped me so it was kind of fun.”
Parents also played a huge role during this move-in weekend, helping their children move in and bringing supplies. Some took it even further by writing encouraging words on their cars, such as “OSU here we come” or just simply “Go Beavs!”
According to Carie Parsons, a parent who helped her daughter in the move-in transition, said she wrote those words in the rear window just to celebrate this transition and change.
“It can be nervous moving to college,” Parsons said.
Another parent, Dustin Shroder, also had some encouraging words on the back of his car and said it might boost his daughter’s spirit. Shroder said they drove more than 11 hours from California.
According to the University Housing and Dining Services website, Friday, Sept. 22 was the move-in day for Sackett, West, McNary and International Living-Learning halls. Saturday, Sept. 23 was dedicated to Hawley, Buxton, Cauthorn, Finley, Callahan and Tebeau halls. Sunday move-in was for Weatherford, Poling, Halsell, Bloss and Wilson halls.
According to UHDS, 5,450 students will be living on campus this fall term. Most students living on campus will be living in a double room, the standard size being 12 feet by 15 feet.
To accommodate this high number, UHDS provided agents to direct traffic, as well as easy check-in points for new students to get their room keys faster.
