The countdown is on until the day I move! Myself and my 4 friends will be moving from our 6 bedroom home in Thorold to a 5 bedroom in St. Catharines. Our new place is closer to Brock, downtown and the Pen Centre so it will be a lot more convenient for me! Although I am really excited to move, the actual process of planning the move has been a bit of a pain.
Chances are, if you’re moving away from home as a student, you’ll be moving more than once during your time at Brock. There’s the move into residence, moving from residence to off-campus housing, and the possibility of moving between houses during your time at Brock if the occasion arises.
AND moving as a student is not the same as moving as a family. For one, most students don’t have cars. This makes it very difficult to gather supplies like boxes, run errands, and even get to the location if you’re renting a truck. Also, if you’re like me, your parents may not be able to come and help you move (they live 2+ hours away and I’m moving on a work day). There’s also the issue of classes interrupting your move, or summer employment (for me I have both going on during my move in day – two things I can’t avoid) So what’s a student to do? Since I’m currently going through this process myself, I thought I’d give you guys a few tips to keep in mind.
Book everything in advance. Many student houses have 12 month leases starting in May and ending in April of the following year. That means many students are moving on the same day of May 1st from year to year. The city only has so many U-Haul trucks, and they go quickly! As soon as you know the date you’re moving, book the truck right away (if you need one) so you’re not left without!
Sell stuff on kijiji. Packing is a brutal process, and you don’t want to go through the pain of moving furniture that you don’t end up needing in your new place (i.e. if your new house has 2 fridges, do you really need that mini-fridge from your residence room?) So sell it on kijiji! The great thing is that since everyone is usually moving at the same time (see above) chances are good that another student will be looking for your item around the same time that you’re ready to get rid of it (maybe a first year incoming student is looking for a mini-fridge being sold in St. Catharines so that he/she doesn’t have to lug it up all the way from home!) I recently sold my treadmill on kijiji in under an hour. It really does work!
Recruit friends to help. If you’re living away from home you may not have many family members around or available to help you move. But if you have a lot of stuff, it might be too big and overwhelming of a task to do on your own. So recruit some friends! Make a day/night out of it. Play some tunes, put some snacks out, and buy them dinner if need be. Or if you and your friend are moving at the same time, make a deal to help each other and then go out to celebrate after. Make it fun!! The load will be a lot lighter if you have some help. Trust me!
That’s about all I have to say for the preliminary steps of moving as a student. Stay tuned for my blog after the move. I’m sure I’ll run into more problems and make more mistakes between now and Tuesday, so you can learn from my errors and make sure your move is smooth in the future!
