Long lines, smiling faces, and even some gator chomping were common themes across the University of Florida campus Saturday morning as hundreds of students arrived for fall move-in day.
Moving can be hectic and stressful for students and families, especially at a large institution such as UF. To keep things orderly, students are required to schedule a specific move-in appointment time.
During fall move-in, UF also has several designated unloading zones set up on campus for families to quickly unload their vehicles before relocating to a permanent parking location.
The unloading area at East Hall was already buzzing with activity at 8:15 a.m. on Saturday. Carts were filled with move-in essentials and rolled across the parking lot as students and families headed to their destinations.
Will Ochoa, an 18-year-old incoming freshman from Port St. Lucie, was unloading the last of his belongings out of his family’s car and into a cart before heading inside.
Ochoa said he was “more excited than nervous” about moving. He added that he was excited to get a feel for the campus before classes start.
A few spots over, the Skoroz family, of Miami, had taken a short break from unloading their truck to have a move-in staff member take a photo of them.
Dmitriy Skoroz, the father of Anastasia Skoroz, an architecture major at UF, said he was “proud” of his daughter moving into the dorms.
The hustle and bustle of move-in day continued over at the Honors Village. Cars filled with move-in essentials were lined up between buildings three and four. People wearing bright, neon green shirts with the words “STUDENT MOVE IN TEAM” draped across the back assisted students and families with getting items out of the vehicles.
Once items were loaded out of the vehicles and into carts, some move-in team members could be seen pushing the carts up close to the third building, where several others sat filled to the top with essentials.
Fall move-in is slated to continue through Tuesday, Aug. 19, for all UF students, with classes beginning on Thursday, Aug. 21.
Nick Anschultz is a Report for America corps member and writes about education for Mainstreet Daily News. This position is supported by local donations through the Community Catalyst for Local Journalism Fund at the Community Foundation of North Central Florida.
