Seniors Abbey O’Loughlin, left, and Michelle Coleman load a rented moving van with items from their Spartan Avenue duplex Thursday afternoon. This is the second day the women worked on packing up their stuff and unloading at their new location on Ann Street.
Abbey O’Loughlin’s week has been all about packing and moving.
Like many other MSU students this month, she and her roommates are getting ready to make the move to a new home for the 2007-08 school year as others also prepare to move into a new apartment.
“It’s exhausting, but we’re kind of used to it,” the special education senior said. “The first year (we moved), we thought this was the worst thing that ever happened. So far it’s going pretty well now.
“We kind of know what to expect, so it’s not that bad.”
This will be the third house O’Loughlin has moved to in East Lansing. She said the best thing to do is rent a moving truck if a person can’t get their hands on a larger truck and to be prepared to help.
“It’s a lot of working together,” she said. “You definitely have to be ready to help each other carry out each other’s things.”
A roadblock students encounter are leases that end before their move-in date at a new residence.
Chris Young, an economics senior, is facing that situation.
“One of the hard parts is that we have to move out today and can’t move in to our new house until a week later. You might want to think about that ahead of time and make arrangements,” he said.
Young said he plans to store his stuff in his girlfriend’s basement, while some of his roommates rent a storage unit – an inexpensive option for storing anything from clothing to furniture.
Young, who will move into a house across campus from his old house next week, said to make sure to keep cool while moving.
“It’s scorching hot,” he said. “The houses don’t have air conditioning, so we’ll bring fans on move-out and move-in day.”
Unwanted, gently used furniture and clothing can be donated to nonprofit agencies such as Volunteers of America.
Patrick Patterson, vice president of operations with Volunteers of Americain Lansing, said clothing and larger items can be donated at either of the two drop-off locations in Lansing.
There also are drop-off boxes for clothing on campus at Cherry Lane Apartments and Spartan Village laundry areas.
If students are looking to find furniture, Patterson said shopping at a Volunteers of America location or another thrift store is a cheap and unique way to get anything a person needs.
“You can stock a dorm room quick at the store,” he said. “It’s a great place to get everything you need for $100.”
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