Are we gonna make it?

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BROOKINGS – An annual rite of passage got underway Friday morning at South Dakota State University: freshmen moving into their residence halls on campus in preparation for settling in on their journey to a college degree.

Above: Current students maneuver a large sofa to a new freshman’s room in Ben Reifel Hall.

Below: Two freshmen check out some of their many belongings prior to helpers moving it all to a room in Ben Reifel Hall.

It was an all-hands movement, with parents and new students unloading the bare necessities for on-campus life: microwaves, mini-fridges, televisions, computers, overstuffed sofas capable of seating a half-dozen people, clothes, rugs, bedding and personal accoutrements to help ease that first-time-away-from-home experience.

On hand to get all that stuff from curbside to rooms was a blue-shirted army of “Meet State” volunteers – faculty, staff and current students – who drove carts and moved gear and equipment via elevators and stairways to the newcomers’ rooms.

Volunteer Justin Parks, an SDSU staffer and cart driver, said, “This would be the class of 2021. They’re all moving in today. Faculty, staff and current students, we all get together and we help make sure the move-in process is as easy as possible. My job is just making sure that I help get stuff with the carts from one end all the way to the entrance. And current students are then helping move incoming students’ stuff up to their rooms. We all do our part.”