I heard the same two questions with every student I helped move, mostly from the parents:
1. You're a professor and you're helping students move in? (Getting that question is probably part of why they want faculty to volunteer; it shows how caring we all are!)2. How is she going to fit all this into this tiny room? (It is amazing how the magic works on fitting everything under the sun into such a teeny-tiny space!)
A few of the students I helped were the first in the their family to attend college. You could see the pride/fear/excitement/concern in mom and dad's face. Or maybe that look of concern on dad's face was just for realizing that he brought a not-so-mini-fridge that he now had to haul to the third floor of a building with no elevator.
And with all of the students you could see, even in the few minutes I was with them, that push and pull as the student tried to exert her independence while mom (mostly mom!) tried to hold on just a little longer--trying to organize where things should go, cleaning out drawers and under the bed.
Helping students move in was also a reminder of what dorm-life is like. I haven't been inside a traditional college dorm in many years and was instantly reminded of dorm rules (they were posted everywhere), the life of RAs and fun roommate problems. I remember moving in myself after my dad and I had driven across the country from New Hampshire to Utah, meeting my roommate for the first time, meeting my RA (what's an RA? I asked) and starting to negotiate life on my own.
