Nothing beats the excitement of move-in day on a college campus, especially for a freshman like Nicolette Juarez, 18, of Joliet, who was busy hauling in things with her parents Friday morning at Aurora University.
“I looked at a number of schools and picked Aurora because it’s close to home but it’s not too close. I’m kind of having my own independence and it’s a good school for nursing which is what I want to do,” Juarez said. “I always liked helping people and figured this would be the best way to go. I really wanted to go to North Central, but this school won out because of the program for nursing.”
Friday’s cooler temperatures were a welcome relief for students, parents and volunteers as freshman move-in day at Aurora University began at 10 a.m.
The campus was filled with football players from the university ready to do some heavy lifting as staff and resident assistants guided students to their new homes on campus.
Friday was the first freshman move-in for the recently appointed new president of the university Susana Rivera-Mills, who said she “has the pleasure of serving as the 14th president of the university.”
“It’s an exciting time for the university. I can feel over the past couple of weeks the energy, and the activity has just been increasing with all the buzz and the new students and their families coming here,” she said. “I’m going to be around the freshmen and their families as they move in and begin their new adventure.”
Rivera-Mills said she hopes to connect with students and the new class by “being physically present on campus which was the reason I decided to live literally across the street from campus.”
“I want to be near and connecting with our community and have attended every single one of our freshmen orientations,” she said. “I would love to spend time in dining halls and having lunch and meeting with athletes in the gym and working out with them and getting to know them there. I want to be present and engaged.”
Deborah Maue, senior vice president for enrollment and marketing, said the university “is welcoming a record number of freshmen this year.”
“We are expecting 845 freshmen. Our previous record was 804,” she said. “We intentionally broadened our marketing two years ago to the northeast corner of Illinois and increased awareness and visibility across the greater Chicagoland area, and we are seeing the fruits of that now.”
There will also be a record 722 students living on campus this year, Maue said, which includes freshmen “as well as a lot of returning students who are coming to live here, and we have increased events and ways for student to connect with each other.”
A total of 27 states are being represented within the student body, school officials said.
Most of those moving in Friday were from the Chicago area including Melissa Ketter, 18, of Lake Villa, who said she chose the school because of her academic interests “and I was able to do basketball and track here.”
“I’m really excited about meeting new friends and have met my roommate. She is also on the basketball team, and I think we’re going to get along,” Ketter said. “I’m the last one from my family to go to college. I didn’t get any tips from my siblings – just go there and enjoy it.”
Melissa’s mother Tris Ketter said this was her fifth child to go away to school and felt “happy and sad about the last one going.”
“We’re at the empty nester stage now and it’s a little scary,” she said.
Ava Bars, 18, of Vernon Hills, said she “got a feeling once I got on campus and I saw the court for basketball and it spoke to me so I wanted to come here.”
“I thought the people here were sweet. Everybody waved to me and were super-friendly,” she said. “I’m the last of three to go to college and I was told it was going to be hard to leave my mom at first and I’m super-close to her, but I can go see her whenever I need to.”
Ava’s mother, Marisa Urkovich, admitted Friday was a sad day for her but that she has helped move a child into school before “and I know they come back.”
“I’ve learned to not overpack. You can always get stuff later and don’t have to bring everything,” she said. “Four years from now, I want her to have given her best on the team and just explored all of her options – study, of course, and find her path.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
