A packed library and the raided shelves at Mack’s Market can only mean one thing — dead week has arrived. Between working on final exams, setting up last-minute meetings with professors and finding the right time to scarf down a quick meal, move-out plans can be the last thing on anyone’s mind.
If you’re one of over 2,000 students living in dorms on campus, you’ve likely run into many problems trying to move out as quickly as possible — whether it’s last-minute packing, desperately trying to find a purple moving bin or scrambling to find someone to take care of your dorm plants over the summer.
Luckily, you don’t have to deal with moving out alone – here are some tips from experienced students and staff on dealing with move-out stress before summer break.
Moving out tips
Timing and efficiency are key for moving belongings out of dorm rooms. During the chaos and final hours before checkout, it can be too easy to leave things behind.
Mehling Hall Director Paige Patterson recommends that students start packing early in order to avoid forgetting important items behind.
“I have seen people put off moving til the last 20 minutes before their checkout time,” Patterson said. “We’ve gone through final checks and found crazy things underneath furniture like clothes and documents.”
To help lighten the load of packing, roommates Will Oliver and Marc Morreale also recommend starting early and highly encourage students to start packing clothes and items that won’t be useful during the last two weeks of school.
“Most people have stuff that they’re not going to use the last week that they’re around,” Morreale said. “If you’re going to be slammed during finals week and have winter clothes you don’t need, pack that up early. Spread out the labor over time.”
Spacing is also a huge issue when moving out. During finals week, it is not uncommon to see cars crammed with an obscene amount of boxes leaving campus.
To help deal with furniture and clothes overload, Patterson recommends students use their residence halls’ trunk rooms.
If trunk rooms are not available, there are also local storage room lockers available in the Portland area. Oliver and Morreale, who have been living together since their freshman year, have shared a storage locker for multiple years, which is one way to make off-campus storage more affordable.
“We probably could have fit a third person’s stuff in with the unit that we had,” Morreale said. “We had the smallest unit. Between the two of us, it was $15 a month for three months.”
For students living in off-campus housing, moving out is a different process with its own benefits and challenges. While off-campus students have access to more furniture and space, it can be a hassle to get rid of a lot of furniture and clothes
“Start selling stuff that you don’t need early,” senior Bri Tade said. “UP Mobile’s a great place, but also Facebook Marketplace.”
Off-campus students might also be at risk of not getting their security deposits back. Tade recommends taking pictures of a living space so that students can ensure the return of their deposit after moving out.
“Some landlords can get pretty picky and you don’t end up getting your deposit back,” Tade said. “Make sure everything’s set and looks the same as how you got it — and have photo evidence of it.”
Finals Week resources
The last two weeks of school can also bring immense academic and emotional stress to students. Fortunately, UP offers resources to get you connected to vital services.
If you’re scrambling to find the proper research for your paper or final project, look no further than the Clark Library. Besides offering a comfortable space for students to complete their work, there are many research services, study rooms and labs available to students.
The Learning Commons is also a great resource not only during finals week, but year-round as well. With services like tutoring and the Writing Center available, UP students can make use of the Commons’ services to navigate academic challenges.
Mental health resources
Finals week also brings mental health challenges for many students. If you are struggling with burnout or massive amounts of stress, there are many de-stressing techniques that students can use to manage these challenges.
For more serious matters, UP’s Health and Counseling Center provides critical and confidential services for those who need it.
With the flurry that is finals week and move out, it is also important to take a deep breath and soak in the last couple weeks of the semester. To all Pilots, especially the graduating seniors, The Beacon wishes you luck.
Carlos Moreno-Vega is a reporter for The Beacon. He can be reached at morenove23@up.edu.
Lulu Heffernan contributed to this story. She can be reached at hefferna23@up.edu.
