They’re Here! First Years Move In

Toting water bottles and mopping their brows, many families were on campus yesterday morning, helping first-year students settle into their new college lives. With temperatures hitting the low 80s, it was a particularly humid morning to be lugging furniture into dorm rooms. Yet, for the most part, parents seemed cheerful. “They’re not stressed out because we’re not stressing them out,” Jared Littlejohn ’15 said. He, along with many other upper-class students, was omnipresent yesterday, helping move stuff in. “Here’s someone I can help!” Littlejohn called, running off to ask whether he could assist a father and son carry a small refrigerator.

Later in the afternoon, first-year students headed over to Farley Field House to meet their orientation groups and have a barbeque dinner. The plan was to have all 497 first-year students sleep in the field house so they could disembark on orientation trips early this morning. Families said their last goodbyes by 4:30 p.m., with many tears and tight embraces. Here are a few things overheard during this emotional time:

From parents:
“Thanks for being fabulous. Have a great four years!”

“Take it all in, you’ll be graduating before you know it.”

“Be safe!”

From students:
“I’ve sort of been canoeing, well not technically. I’ve been in a canoe, but I’ve never maneuvered one on my own.”

“Thank goodness I got a 4 on AP Lit.”

“So, who all is playing a sport here?”

“When’s dinner?”

“So how did you get to Bowdoin from Alaska?”