It can be as pretty or as not pretty as you plan it to be.
If you can line up your summer storage options, get rides to airports, and clean your room in time, you won’t have to deal with the giant ball of stress that swells up inside one of your ear canals in the latter part of the semester.
Hypothetically, let’s say you don’t do that. Let’s say you’re me. Entering my senior year, I don’t think I’ve really nailed the whole “move-out process thing” that everyone seemingly has figured out. Freshman year. Sophomore year. Junior year. Three strikes. But in this hellish ballgame, there are actually four strikes required to retire the batter so I’m ready to be locked in for senior year move out.
Here is a three-step process that covers about 89% of the problem areas of move-out:
1. First, summer storage.
Any other year, I would need to get something lined up. My freshman year, there was a student service that would not only store things over the summer, but they would move them in and out of the dorms for you. I don’t think they do that anymore because there are way too many stairs at Juniata. Anyhow, I have a list of places that might come in handy for anyone looking to compare rates (as provided by CampusLife so yes you will have to call these numbers or find their website):
a. Moove In Self Storage: 814-627-0261 (cow-themed)
b. All In Self Storage: 814-599-3687 (green-themed)
c. Strickler’s Self Storage: 814-643-4940 (Strickler-themed)
2. Second, plan your travel.
As soon as you know the finals schedule (yes, they email it out to the students), book the Amtrak 42 Pennsylvania or your flights. The campus will provide shuttle transports if you check your email or remain in close contact with someone in the office. Also, I’m pretty fairly certain that that is the only commuter train that runs through Huntingdon. Good thing it has a snack car with those gourmet hot dogs that they heat up in a bag. Check out the route here: https://amtrakguide.com/routes/pennsylvanian/
3. Third, start tearing down your room at least three days before.
No matter how good you think you are at planning to take down the room, there will always be surprises. Maybe you forgot to unplug the fridge 24 hours before to let it thaw so that you can dry it. Maybe you forgot that facilities removed your window pane really early in the year and now you are getting charged for it. Maybe there is an entire box of 80 thumbtacks nailed into the wall that is torture for your fingers to pull out. Point is, give yourself some time to plan around the chaos – it’s worth having an ugly room for two nights.
Contact me at muleads18@juniata.edu if this worked for you. If not, hahaha you should’ve started tearing down your room earlier!
