Advertisement
Six floors up in Sheehan Hall, her family dropped off bags and boxes like bellboys at a hotel. Kirsten, 18, looked at her things — a collection of clothes, appliances and knickknacks — that sat on the curb, waiting to be moved from the family van to her dorm room.
 |
Winona State University freshman Kirsten Ilgen, 18, right, of Grantsburg, Wis., gets dorm information from welcome crew member and WSU sophomore Molly Danahy, 19, left, as her family unloads her things Tuesday at Sheehan Hall on the WSU campus. Ilgen's mom, Sharon, boyfriend, Chad Maki, 17, center, of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., dad, Brett, and brother, Seth, 13, not pictured, helped her move into her dorm room.
(Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News)
|
“I just wanted to feel at home,” Kristen said.
About 2,000 Winona State University freshmen left the comforts of hometowns for college life Tuesday, moving into residence halls in anticipation of the start of their college careers. Parents and Welcome Warriors — upperclassmen volunteers assisting new students move in — helped Winona’s newest residents make bare-walled rooms feel a little less intimidating.
The move can cause anxiety for students — and for their families.
“Scary, depressing, exciting,” Kristen’s father, Brett, said of his daughter going to school. “She’s our first kid to go to college.”
Classes start Monday. Until then, students get a chance to make new friends, accustom themselves to new roommates and get a feel for the community. Across town, freshmen arrive Friday at Saint Mary’s University.
The Ilgens said the Winona environment, both on campus and off, are why Kristen chose to study nursing at WSU.
“The other campuses were huge,” Kristen said. “This one is nice.”
Proximity to cousins in town — and a boyfriend who came to help her move and lives less than two hours away — didn’t hurt either, she said.
Outside Sheehan, under a tent that would have been better served for Monday’s heat than Tuesday morning’s chill, a group of Welcome Warriors and WSU Alumni Society members handed out pamphlets, maps and other items to help guide newcomers. Alumna Mary Jo Strauss said she can remember the stress of moving in from her days at on campus.
“It’s for the parents’ benefit as much as the students,” Strauss said. “They’re struggling just as much as their kids are.”
Maybe the hardest thing for parents was letting go.
“I told her she was in charge of her own decisions now,” Brett Ilgen said. “I told her to create her own future.”
Nolan Rosenkrans may be reached at (507) 453-3519 or at nolan.rosenkrans@lee.net.
