As finals week drew to a close, Cornell students were busy packing their bags to move out of their dorms or apartments. This year, all undergraduates are required to leave their dorms by 2 p.m. on May 22, except for students who are graduating or participating in commencement.
Since the move-out date was right after the end of the finals week on May 21, students who had finals on May 20 or 21 had limited time to pack up.
“I finished my exams on May 19, but I still had deadlines for an essay and a discussion post on May 21, the time was rushed for me to pack my stuff while working on final assignments,” said Qinghua Tan ’23, a student who lived in Hans Bethe House on West campus this year. “Since the deadline for moving out was 2 p.m., which was accurate to the hour, I felt very stressed out.”
The closeness of the end of finals to the move out deadline was an added burden to students with finals late in the final period.
“It was very difficult and exhausting because I finished the last exam on May 20 and had another deadline on May 21 at 23:59 p.m., but I had to clear my dorm by 2 p.m. on May 22,” said Ke Wu ’23, a student who lived in Schuyler House. “I almost stayed up all night to pack my bags.”
Other than meeting the move out deadline, students also faced difficulties carrying and transporting their luggage.
“The elevator of Schuyler House did not work when I was moving out, so almost all my luggage was carried downstairs by myself. My arms and legs were bruised during the process and are still sore now,” Wu said. “[I] hope the University can provide some affordable transportation services for moving out in the future.”
Moving out of a dorm can be an arduous process for students without a car or other external help.
“The biggest difficulty was that I didn’t have a car, so I had to move it several times by myself, so it was very troublesome,” Qinyue Yu ’23 said. “But the good thing is that almost every time I moved my stuff out of the dorm, there was always someone to help me.”
When it comes to the help that students received from the University during the process, many expressed their thanks for carts placed in the residential halls which eased the process of moving large objects without wheels.
“There are plenty of carts in the house, and on average each dorm could get about 5 or 6 of them, so you don’t have to wait if you want to use them,” said Ziyu Chen ’23, a student who lived on West campus this year. “It is really convenient.”
As some students moved out of their dorms to apartments in Ithaca, other students were packing to go home.
Gracia Xu ’24 said that it was easier for her to move out because her home is only an hour away from Ithaca, which allowed her to leave town with all her luggage rather than having to store it.
“I started moving some of my smaller things back home a few weeks before my move-out date and my parents came to help me with my move-out, so I did not meet any problems,” Xu said.
Some students who plan to travel to other cities before returning to Ithaca in the fall chose to move their packages to their friends’ apartments. With help from their friends, their move-out process was less stressful.
“I did not have a lot to pack, and my friends helped me move my luggage so the process was relatively easy for me,” said George Lin ’24, a student who plans to move to Palo Alto, California, this summer. “And, I’m in a good mood since I’m going to enjoy the sunshine of California soon.”
But moving out isn’t all sunshine. Even though they’ve only lived in their dorms for one year, many students have already developed attachments to their dorms and have mixed feelings about leaving. Students cite the social environment and connections made in their dorms as major reasons for why they’re sad to say goodbye.
“I feel both sad and excited that I am leaving my dorm,” said Xu.
Despite their ties to their dorms, students are optimistic about their future housing.
“[My dorm] feels like my home, but I am also looking forward to living with my close friends next semester,” Tan said. “I believed it would be cozier.”