Moving blitz: How students are planning end-of-term move-outs

While many Algonquin College students are paying fees to stay in residence over the summer, others are preparing for the headaches that come with moving out.

Students described the challenging aspects of moving away at the end of the term, mostly due to overcrowding on campus during moving season.

“I stay at home in my own parents’ house over the summer; they come and get me to move out,” said Maylin Hart, a bachelor of science and nursing student.

“The most annoying part is just how clogged the elevators get because everyone is doing it at the same time, so you’re sitting there waiting for an elevator for three years.”

One strategy used by students involves taking a load of belongings home a couple of weeks in advance to lighten the load on moving day.

“On Monday, we came back up, and I packed up 75 per cent of all of the stuff I had, so I’m just working with the stuff I need for the next couple of weeks,” Hart said.

“When that day comes, I have a wagon to carry all of my stuff in.”

Student Caleb Hutchinson is staying in residence for the upcoming months while he takes plumbing courses.

“I’m here until August. It costs around $6,000. I’m staying here because of convenience,” Hutchinson said.

According to Hutchinson, the price makes a big impact, especially the cost of the meal plan offered to students living in residence.

“I can sleep in and get to my classes at the last second. I would say the only ‘con’ is that it’s not worth the price; for the first semester, you have to get a meal plan. Overall, it’s just not worth it in my opinion,” he said.

Most students are eager to get home but need to strategize around obtaining the moving carts offered by residence services during moving season. The small, blue four-wheeled carts are highly sought after by students moving out at the end of the term.

“My strategy is just to get a cart as early as possible. They don’t have a lot because literally everyone moves out at the same time, so it’s hard to find them,” said Beth Coe, a graphic design student at Algonquin.

“I would also say try to pick a time of day that’s not usually super busy because when it gets busy, it can get too hard to get in and out of the doors.”

Adding to the list of unpleasant aspects of moving, Coe elaborated on the difficulty of making space and staying organized.

“The most annoying part would be getting everything organized and finding room to make it fit in the vehicle, or however you get back,” Coe said.

“People have a lot of stuff.”