Students move in with lots of energy in their step

I have now seen what it looks like for over 35,000 college students to come storming back to class.  With a record-breaking enrollment at Washington State University and a whole lot of students at University of Idaho, there is a lot of action here on the Palouse!

We haven't had to try very hard to keep ourselves busy helping students make the transition.  We spent a day on each campus helping students move into their dorm rooms.  I definitely burned some calories as I carried tubs, carts, boxes and "what-in-the-world-is-this" up to the fourth and fifth floors.  I seriously began to wonder if they actually house anybody below the third floor or if I was just incredibly unlucky in which cars I was selecting to assist.

Me and Eric (team leader)

The move-in days were a lot of fun and a good chance to meet a few faces, introduce yourself, and most importantly make five trips to the cars become one trip.  Those old dormitories that lack air-conditioning are sure going to be fun for a few weeks.  Especially if the third floor in the Ballard wing doesn't stop backing up the toilet...

After the students moved in, it was only a day or two before the universities invite them to orientations and "get to know what's available to you on campus" events.  We attended the WSU Welcome Picnic at Mooberry Track where all the different student organizations set up booths to promote themselves and what they do.  We handed out 600 packages of free Top Ramen noodles with our information on them, telling them that "Dinner's on us, tonight."  It was well received and we made a lot of good connections and sign-ups.

The next day was PalousaFest at the University of Idaho and we all got to set up our booths again and talk to the UofI students.  This time we handed out free bottles of water with our info and had another great night of talking to students and inviting them to get involved in CARE groups.  Tomorrow, we have another event, the Student Involvement Fair at WSU where we will rinse and repeat the PalousaFest process.  

Continue to pray for our events as we get to meet students and hopefully enter into some new relationships.  Pray for Marty as he tries to connect with many of the Magic Valley students that are at UofI and WSU.  We are looking forward to Sunday night, when we will have two BBQ's (one in Pullman and one in Moscow) with tons of fun and exciting chances to build relationships with students.

Palousafest

Maggie (one of our CARE group leaders)