Freshmen Move-In

I had the JOY of directing HUNDREDS of JMU parents/students as they moved into Potomac hall this week (which is a super nice dorm..i mean residence hall...I have to get my ORL terminology down).


First of all, I got to be the first person to welcome these students to JMU which felt really fun and put the pressure on. This is how it worked:

I waved the cars in with my purple shirt on and a big smile!

I said "Welcome to JMU Ya'll!! Are you excited?"

At that point, people from New Jersey, Massachusetts, Minnesota (lots of people from up North go to JMU) gave me a funny look with my southern accent and use of the word ya'll and gave me a little laugh. I am sure they were thinking, "Well my daughter/son will be going to school with a lot of rednecks." HAHA, if they could only meet my mom.

Lastly, I told the student to go get their room key and gave the parents unloading instructions and things went SO smoothly.

During the 8 hours in the past 2 days that I did this, I made a few observations about parents. There were 3 types that I ran into:

1. The embarrassing dad. These dads were full of energy and excitement and could not wait to embarrass their son or daughter (mainly daughters). I had several chuckle and say "Are we at VA tech??" or telling me they were freshman. I even had a few drive up singing some JMU chants. These were my favorites.

2. The pissed parents. These were the type that had a huge fight while packing/driving and wanted nothing to do with each other (it is an emotional day for most). They hardly cracked a smile and their poor student the back was nervously smiling.

3. The worrying mother. These worried moms were asking me a million questions and looked like they were on the verge of tears in any second. One time I asked the JMU student (a guy) to get out of the car and go sign in and I thought his mom thought I was taking him away forever. During some of my downtime I began thinking about what it would be like to drop of my kid to college for the first time. And because it is the "Trail of Tears" summer I almost started crying...pathetic right? I don't even know what to do with this new side of me.

When I headed home yesterday I called my mom and wanted to know what it was like to drop of Dereck and I at college. She reminded me that she had to move me in early because I had 2 weeks of pre-season for cheerleading. Apparently, she wanted to go into our cheer meeting to meet my coach but I was really embarrassed and did not want her to come. Last minute, I decided she could and after she shook hands she said she left, turned the corner of the gym and started crying like a baby. How sweet!

She told me that when her and my dad drove Dereck up to ASU they unpacked, left, and then pulled over to a gas station and got a 6 pack of bud light to drink. HAHA. I cracked up when I heard that.

I loved being a part of move-in this year and can't wait to get to know some of these freshmen men and women during the school year!

What was your move-in day like?!