A moving experience

Eric Rosales, E’21, gets help from his family in the North Lot on move-in day at Northeastern University on Sept. 4, 2017. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

While many take the opportunity for an extra day off over Labor Day weekend, Northeastern was a hive of activity, as students moved into their new residence halls, and families said their (sometimes tearful) goodbyes. Amidst all that hustle and bustle, a number of families shared their experience with News@Northeastern. Here’s a snapshot of the emotion.

 

New roommates Joe Von Holten, E’22, and Max Willner-Giwerc, SSH’22, move into East Village. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Many students take advantage of social media to connect with their new roommates long before they meet in person on moving day. Max Willner-Giwerc, SSH’22, and Joe Von Holten, E’22, were among them. As it happened, both are from upstate New York, and appeared settled into an easy routine within a few hours of stepping into their East Village room. “This whole thing has been a lot easier than I thought it’d be,” Von Holten said, with a laugh.

Madison Waldron, SSH’22, left, and Josephine Brennan, SSH’22, right, organize their room in East Village. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Josephine Brennan and Madison Waldron, both SSH’22, also coordinated online before moving in. Their matching bedspreads said as much.

So did their good-natured ribbing of each other’s baseball team preferences. Brennan, from Cape Cod, noted with some glee that the famous Citgo sign outside Fenway Park was visible from their 10th-floor East Village room. Rolling her eyes, Waldron, a Long Island, New York, native, quipped, “Don’t remind me.”

Madison Waldron, organizes photos on her bed. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Brennan’s and Waldron’s parents looked on from the doorway of their daughters’ room. Mark Waldron was smiling, but added, “I’ll be honest, this is a little hard.”

After they took care of moving into their new homes, some students and their families strolled around campus, taking advantage of the relatively mild late-August weather. Vivienne Gao, S’22, and her parents, Anh Tran and Xiang Gao, were among them.

Vivienne Gao, S’22, poses for a photo with her mom, Anh Tran. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

“This is beautiful,” Tran said. “It makes me wish I could go back to college.”

On Monday, students unloaded cars and moved in across campus, from St. Stephens Street to Columbus Avenue, from West Campus to Davenport Commons. “So far so good,” said third-year student Chelsea Rutagengwa, S’20. She and her family moved her into her on-campus apartment on Huntington Avenue—with a helping hand from her family—where she’ll be living as she continues her clinical research co-op at an endocrinology lab at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, which she began in July. (By sheer coincidence, we also caught up with Rutagengwa during last year’s fall move-in.)

Eric Rosales, E'21, gets help from his family in the North Lot on move-in day at Northeastern University on Sept. 4, 2017. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

 

Nearby in the North Lot, Eric Rosales, E’21, and Samantha Emhardt, S’19, expressed similar excitement to be back on campus and meet up with friends. Count Tess Broll in that same camp. “I’ve been itching to get back,” said Broll, AMD’21, as she placed a lamp, a cork board with pictures, a mattress pad, and other items into her moving hamper.

Broll, a combined major in communication studies and screen and media studies, participated in N.U.in Berlin last fall, so this is her first fall in Boston. She’s living with roommates—her “three best friends”—in an on-campus apartment on Fairwood Avenue. “I’m already feeling comfortable being back on campus,” she said.

Rajon Mitchell, SSH'22, from New York, gives a goodbye hug to his Mom Elsakay Mitchell after moving into East Village at Northeastern University on Aug. 29, 2017. Also pictured is his Dad Denzel Mallett, and brother Denzel Mallett, age 5. Not pictured is his brother, Mason Mallett, age 2. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University