Move-in day: Excitement, tears and mementos from home
Many of the more than 3,600 students moving into UIC’s 10 residence halls this fall knew they needed that one special item from home to smooth their transition to college life.
During the first day of campus move-in, Aug. 21, students held tight to their reminders of home – a soft blanket, family pictures, even religious mementos.
First-year business major Juan Juarez knew he couldn’t do without his prized golf clubs in his room in the Academic and Residential Complex.
“I won those in a really, really rookie tournament, and it’s a reminder from home that I can do it,” said the Chicago native.
As the first person in his family to attend college, he was basking in the moment. He said he’s very proud to attend UIC on an Evans Scholarship, which covers school costs for students with outstanding records of caddying, academics, character and leadership. His best friend, Roman Magana, was there to give him a lift and help him move in.
As Juarez unloaded Magana’s car, he thought about his younger brother and sister. He hopes they will have the same opportunity as he does.
“It’s such an honor,” Juarez said. “I hope my siblings could follow in my footsteps and go to college.”
Photos: Jenny Fontaine/UIC
Sunny Park, a first-year communications major, said she and her extended family drove in a caravan of several cars from their home in Troy, Michigan, to make sure she was properly moved in. To remind her of home, she packed clothes she recently bought in Korea, where she moved from as a second grader.
“I brought them here just to remind myself where I come from,” said Park.
The most memorable part of the move-in day for her: Sharing the five-hour drive with her parents and siblings as they escorted her to the next big step in her life.
“I’m nervous being by myself, and it’s a new city, so I have to meet new friends and everything,” said Park adding that by the end of the year she hopes. “That I feel more confident in a new city.”
Park’s mother, Jieun O, said that saying goodbye will be particularly hard this year with not just one daughter at college, but two. Park’s sister will be attending college in Boston.
“I told them to make good choices and take responsibility for themselves,” Jieun O said, as her daughter translated. “It’s overwhelming. She’s closer to becoming an independent adult now.”
Photos: Jenny Fontaine/UIC
Following in family footsteps
Jaden Gonzalez, a first-year applied psychology major from Chicago, is happy to be sharing a room in the Academic and Residential Complex with a good friend from home.
“I’m very fortunate to have somebody I know that I trust,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez’s mom, Joann Ramos-Omar, spent a year and a half at UIC in the 1990s before she transferred to community college for financial reasons and eventually earned her degree elsewhere. She said she’s proud to have her daughter attend UIC and live in a residence hall.
“I’m very grateful to give it to her, and she’s able to be in a dorm,” said Ramos-Omar. “We’re breaking cycles. Where I wasn’t able to do it, I’m able to give it to her.”
For Engineering major Bernice Udeogu from Barrington, Illinois, it was not the first time she’d been to move-in day at UIC. Her older brother and sister previously attended UIC.
“She’s the third one to go to UIC from this family,” said her mother, Eunice Udeogu.
Her father, Benjamin, gave her a hug. Now that the family’s youngest child will live on campus, they will have to get used to being empty nesters, he said.
“We’ll miss her a lot. Her presence at home will not be there, and we still have to cope with it and visit. She is not too far away,” Benjamin said. He had simple advice for his daughter: “Study, study, study; that’s the reason she’s here.”
Photos: Jenny Fontaine/UIC
Making new friends
First-year student Addison Watts, majoring in rehabilitation sciences, pointed to a box in her new room that contained her reminder of home.
“I did bring a picture of me and my siblings that I will be putting on my desk, because they are a big part of my life,” said Watts, from Rock Falls, Illinois.
Watts is one of four children in her family. As she hung clothes in her daughter’s new closet, her mother, Nettie, said that her youngest child leaving the nest has been particularly difficult.
“Getting the baby out of the house and having her on her new journey of college is a hard one,” Nettie said.
Addison said that while she doesn’t always follow her siblings’ advice, they did offer some good suggestions from their own experiences.
“They said to stay organized and always keep my area clean, make friends and always get to know people,” said Watts.
She took that advice to heart by making a point of meeting her roommate, Lily Mueller, before they moved in together. They had sleepovers at each other’s homes over the summer, met each other’s families and planned how to decorate their room.
Mueller, who is studying biology and is from Hawthorne Woods, Illinois, said she loved getting to know her roommate.
Along with her new friend Addison, her Bible was the special item she needed to have with her, Mueller said.
“I brought that so I can always reach for it if I ever need anything,” she said.
Her mother Melody fought back tears as she unpacked boxes. She knows it’s a big step for Lily, and she remembered what she told her daughter the night before.
“I told her to just follow her dreams and to be true to herself and just know that we’re always here for her.”
Photos: Jenny Fontaine/UIC
