William Penn Kicks Off 2015-16 School Year
Students and faculty work to help make move-in day go smoothly at William Penn University.
Oskaloosa, Iowa – The nerves are always on edge when it comes to the first day of college.
Many students are near enough to home, but a large portion come to William Penn from around the United States and around the world.
With move-in day on Friday, students and parents filed into Dana M. Atkins Memorial Union to begin. There, students were assigned rooms, schedules, got meal cards and every other detail needed to make the year go as smoothly as possible.
The range of emotions from parents goes from those that are totally distraught to elated.
For parents, the process of leaving a student at college can be difficult, as described by Bob Morris, Academic Coach at William Penn University. Morris has experience with this, not only from being a staff member for the university, but also as the parent of college age students.
Morris said that when he delivered his first child to college, he had to pull over a mile or two outside of town to compose himself. Morris said that by the time he had delivered his second child, it had become a little easier to deal with.
Matt Croonquist, Co-Director of Residence Life, said that 625 students will be housed on campus this semester at William Penn. Of that total, approximately 250 were already on campus. Those students arrived early to be a part of cheer, volleyball or football.
“It’s a really fun time,” Croonquist said of all the new faces on campus. “There’s a lot of really great things going on right now.”
“We have a lot of kids from a lot of different places,” explained Croonquist, who had just finished helping a student from France get his housing situation in order. Students on William Penn campus are from several different countries like France, but also Germany, Scotland, South Africa, just to name a few. From the United States, there are several students from Alaska, Hawaii and New York State on campus this year, just to name a few, all adding to the diversity on campus.
Parents have reservations when sending their children so far away, but Croonquist says that the resident assistants assigned to those students help them find out where their classes are and where the cafeteria is located, along with what time they serve meals.
Those resident assistants are joined by the staff and facility of the school to welcome each student and to help them feel comfortable. “I think once they [students and parents] get there, those reservations sort of dissipate,” added Croonquist.
“Once they see there are people here who care about them… then they go, this is going to be a good place kid,” Croonquist said of helping parents feel comfortable during the process. “With kids coming from everywhere, there’s definitely some fears.”
Classes for William Penn University began on Monday, August 24th. The University is hosting its largest ever student population, with enrollment up from last year.
All of those students will be finding their way out into Oskaloosa in the coming days and weeks. Remember to give them a smile, a wave and remember that many of them are a long way from home.
