UPDATED: Move-in Day 2013

6:30 p.m. – It was a long day for first-year Megan Christianson; moving boxes, unpacking personal items and orienting herself to a new environment during move-in day 2013.

“It was overwhelming at first, but I really like the campus here,” said Christianson, who made the two-hour drive from Newell, Iowa to make her 9:45 a.m. check-in time.

Among the more than 1,000 incoming students who moved in throughout the day, Christianson and her classmates officially became part of the coyote pack during the 2013 convocation ceremony.

USD band members led the processional into the DakotaDome, where academic officials welcomed and inducted new students.

Addressing students, family and faculty, Student Government Association President Erik Muckey opened the ceremony.

“This is the first step into the road called life, and we are celebrating you,” Muckey said.

Dean of Students Kim Grieve, Provost Chuck Staben and President James Abbott added to Muckey’s message of university camaraderie.

“The theme here on campus this year is ‘Can we count on you?’ ” Grieve said. “I know we can count on you to make a difference.”

Following convocation, events for newly inducted students and their families include a provost’s picnic and block party.

Move-in day will continue Saturday, with upperclassmen filling the rest of the university’s housing facilities. Scheduled entertainment Saturday evening will include dancer and comedian Xclusive and a concert by Avian Sunrise.

4 p.m. – After students moved in, the place to go was the University of South Dakota bookstore.

Manager Angela Miller arrived to work at 7:30 a.m. to get things in order before the rush of students arrived, and said she has been staying late the nights before making sure the books are processed and prepared for easy pick-up in boxes.

With approximately 1,000 students coming in to pick up their books this week, the addition of 10 new student booksellers will prove to be a great help.

The bookstore will stay busy, with about 60 to 70 customers — first years and their families — at any given time, and Miller said, “sometimes even more than that.”

To increase revenue, short-sleeved shirts throughout the store are 25 percent off now through September 1.

2 p.m. – The University of South Dakota’s new student move-in day was as busy as a beehive Friday afternoon.

As parents and new students pulled into the North Complex parking lots, members of Coyote Connections greeted them. As they unpacked loaded trucks, cars and vans, Connection members directed dozens of student volunteers to take their things to the assigned room.

William Lewis, sophomore, helped with move in on the Richardson-Olson wing. A member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Lewis compared himself to a worker bee.

“The Coyote Connection people tell us where to take stuff and we grab it and go,” he said. “They’re like the queen bees and we’re like the worker bees.”

Fellow sophomore and Sigma Alpha Epsilon member Joey Snyder said the biggest challenge of moving day is keeping personal items intact.

“You really go into it hoping not to break anything,” he said. “We were carrying a futon up stairs earlier and we heard a giant crash. Apparently someone dropped some black lights down a flight of stairs.”

Lewis and Snyder said the event is good for recruitment to Greek Life and other student activities. They also said it was a chance to make a good impression on first-year females.

“I only moved in freshman girls,” Lewis said. “I don’t think I moved in any guys.”

10 a.m. – After traveling for almost 11 hours, first-year Nicole Dillow was the first student to move into Coyote Village Friday morning at the University of South Dakota.

Students began moving into the North Complex residence halls around 7:30 a.m., and Dillow arrived around at Coyote Village a few minutes after 8 a.m.

“It’s very organized, nothing like back home,” Dillow, who drove with her family from Indianapolis, Ind., said. “It’s nothing like Indiana. The people, the atmosphere, it’s a lot cleaner.”

A team of move-in volunteers met Dillow’s family at their car and promptly moved her belongings to her third floor apartment.

Dillow did not plan to be the first student of the day to move in, and originally didn’t know her check-in time. She said she planned on spending the remainder of the day unpacking, exploring the campus and meeting new people.

Early check-in times can have advantages over later times, according to some current students.

“Chose an earlier time, because it’s not as busy,” move-in volunteer Kayla Sorensen, a junior, said.

Sorensen said early check-in times give students a chance to unload their belongings, avoid the heat of the day and avoid large crowds.

Even though Dillow didn’t plan on being the first to move in, the nursing student was proud of her status.

“The early bird gets the worm,” Dillow said.