Well, it's official, the summer is finally over. This weekend marked move-in day for countless returning students and countless more freshman.
"It's hectic but it's fun, so it kind of balances each other out," said Savannah, an 3rd year RA at College eight who was helping with moving in at College Eight.
Students and their families gathered at UCSC this weekend for campus move in. It was a kind of chaos throughout the colleges, but both students and parents had nothing but good things to say about how the campus organized such a large operation.
"It's been very organized and very stress free," said Debby, a mother of a returning student, Michael, at UC Santa Cruz's College Eight. "It's really a wonderful place."
There was no shortage of help from UCSC orientation leaders (OLs) and residential assistants (RAs) and everyone seemed calm and collected despite the number of families that required their assistance.
"It's nice to feel so knowledgeable about the campus and to feel helpful," said Brittney Sager, a Junior OL who not only helped people in the quad, but also donned a costume and acted as the UCSC mascot, Sammy the banana slug.
"Everyone loves Sammy the Slug," said Brittney, who gave out high fives liberally and posed in numerous photos to help lighten the atmosphere.
For new freshman, the hectics of move in day ended on Saturday. Going into my last quarter I had almost forgotten the fears and excitement that came with the first day away, but it was ripe with them. Although many shared different excitements about the upcoming year, every freshman I spoke too held the same fear. Failing classes.
This was echoed by a group of freshman from Crown: Eliana, Sam, Sam, Gabriel, Lizzy, Brandon, and Shaleen: "(I fear) not showing up to class because you're used to having no rules for a while, and you just don't do it."
While this fear may will probably (I hope) not come to pass, some of the fears I heard from various freshman, such as: getting lost on campus, not getting into a class you want, and getting put out of your comfort zone, I am afraid will happen. Quite a bit in fact.
But while freshman and returning students had fears about the upcoming year, spirits were high.
"It kinda feels like home," said Mia, a freshman from Porter. "(I'm excited for) clubs, classes, and getting to learn new things."
And already many are exploring the natural beauty that UCSC has in abundance, which is what drew many to the school initially.
"You can't be angry living in this area," said senior OL, Sodavy.
Or, as Tom, a Merrill freshman put it: "It's like Fern Gully."
