Move In
I’m pretty sure when I say that moving in anywhere is terrifying in most cases. When the move-in day came, I was scared out of my mind. As a freshman, I didn’t really know how move-in was gonna work. I was asking many people I knew how the move-in process would work in the dorms. Everybody I asked said something different, they either said, “Oh it’s so easy” or others said, “My god it was so bad.” I tried to see if anybody moved into my dorm hall but most of them didn’t. When it came to move-in day my family had a semi-plan of how it was gonna go. If one of us started getting angry we would say “pineapple” as a safe word to keep ourselves calm in a time of stress and anger. It provided to be effective in more ways than one. Move-in day is stressful for everyone and during the process, it’s good to take much-needed breaks to calm down and continue with the process. I decided to move in early mostly so I could have more time to set up my room and be able to hang out with my roommate. It does cost an extra 35 dollars to move in early but it was worth it in my opinion. After you get everything out of the vehicle you’re traveling in, the weight is almost lifted off your shoulders in a very good way. My only complaint about the whole experience is the campus system not running after 5pm to get people back to your cars parked at Hancher. Other than that, moving in wasn’t much of a headache. The only thing that was a headache is unboxing everything. Give yourself some time to go through and set up your room the way you want to.
On Iowa Week
On Iowa week was the best experience I have ever had in my entry life. There were so many activities that you could choose to do. I’ve already met so many people from the experiences that I still hang out with as classes start up. Some of the events I went to was moving night, a literature and art crawl, coffee crawls, and so many more. I almost wanted to do other events but some of them either ran out of things or got canceled because of unknown reasons. Yet my friends and I made our own fun through movie nights, family dinners, late-night walks, and random conversations, (Always walk with someone you trust especially at night, or call for the NiteRide service through the University). Anyways, I can’t even think of words that describe this amazing experience. Everything that I participated in during On Iowa week was amazing. My favorite thing was roasting Jurassic World: Domination, a 2 out of 10, not a great movie. All we did was make fun of the movie in many ways and it was just amazing. One pro tip I’ll give you is to make sure you figure out how the cambus system works before the first day of class mostly because now I know how to get from certain places on campus since I live on the east side. This will save you during the fall and mostly the winter months because when the hill has ice it’s not safe to walk up and down on. I’ll come back to this in some more posts during the winter months. My point with On Iowa week is to try to go to as many events as you can, introduce yourself to new people, and don’t be afraid to be yourself. As long as you do these three things then you’re bound to have a good time during On Iowa.
First Week Of Classes
After you create your own schedule with On Iowa now you have to follow a school schedule, oh goodness… but don’t worry there is a way you can help yourself get ready for the first week of classes. I know that I didn’t truly realize that I needed to rest before the first day of classes. I have an 8:30am class Monday through Thursday during the fall semester and I’ve needed to put myself, and my health to make sure I can get to class on time and with enough sleep. I know that as a college student sleep is the most important thing for you to function throughout the day. While being on campus I haven’t been sleeping for very long but with a few changes to when I go to bed. Going to sleep early can help you wake up early and it will help you perform better in classes. Then I have a pretty long gap in between my classes on Mondays and Wednesdays I will say that I did go back to the dorm room during the first day because I wasn’t adventuresome that day but as I enter my 3rd week of classes I’m not in the dorm room until about 8pm at night. I’ve been able to stay out of the dorm because of finding study and work spots on campus. I bounce in between the IMU, The Main Library, The Lindquist Center, Seaman Center, and other study spots on campus. There are several more study spots on campus so use them throughout the day and try not to study in your room because can sometimes make you feel less productive during the school day. My Mondays and Wednesdays look very similar because my classes are spread out during the day. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I don’t have any classes in the afternoon and you know what I do, I bounce between study spaces on campus. The first week of classes was really good and I like all of my professors and most of my classes. Some advice I can give you guys looking to come to this amazing school is if you can study outside the dorm, try to balance school life with your social life, and know that even though times can get tough you got this.
Closing Thoughts
Being a freshman at the University of Iowa has been good so far and I know that this school is the greatest school when it comes to a lot of things. I’ll be talking more about things that aren’t really talked about when it comes to being a college student. Like I said above don’t be afraid to be yourself, introduce yourself to new people, and just have fun. There’s a reason this school is in the top 10 Universities in the United States. So I hope this post helped you guys who are struggling to try and figure out if Iowa is the right choice for you and trust me it is. I hope you all have an amazing day, week, month, and year.
