Students welcome thousands of new Sun Devils at ASU move-in
More than 16,000 first-year and upper-division students moved into residence halls across ASU’s four campuses last weekend, and among the people making their experience fun and welcoming were fellow Sun Devils.
The move-in experience at ASU is unique; families take advantage of a “cruise ship” style of moving in, where Sparky’s Welcome Team volunteers (ASU students and staff) take care of moving students’ belongings right from their vehicles to their rooms so that students and families can relax, explore campus and enjoy Welcome Week events before classes start.
Some of the students helping out during move-in were members of the Residence Hall Association and the National Residence Hall Honorary, student organizations at ASU that focus on community and advocacy for residential students and leadership development respectively.
Vincent Gomez, a sophomore at ASU majoring in political science and minoring in both dance and fashion, is a member of the RHA executive board and helped spread the word at move-in about how to get involved and how to gain leadership experience. He said he enjoyed getting to know the new first-year class.
“I spoke to so many new residents, families and even ASU staff. I was able to expand my net of connectivity and it was an amazing time,” he said.
Gomez said students have a lot to look forward to this year.
“We are going to have more exciting, engaging and educational programs along with service events that would give back to the community that we are in.”
One RHA-hosted event during Welcome Week was Summerset Fest, which featured dancing, mimes, carnival games and even a ferris wheel set up in front of the Sun Devil Fitness Complex on ASU’s Tempe campus.
English and political science junior Jailene Matrecito was also at move-in to help welcome students to campus. Also a member of the RHA executive board, Matrecito said she loves seeing campus become livelier than ever and helping students prepare for “a monumental step in their lives.”
She recommends that new and returning Sun Devils get involved in anything that interests them.
“There are so many opportunities to get involved that really help define your college experience, whether it be rushing Greek Life, joining a student organization, getting a job in University Housing, landing an internship, traveling for conferences or participating in research!”