Move out timeline increases academic stress

Students should be able to prioritize exams, projects during end of year, not focus on vacating dorms

The first week of May is arguably the most stressful time of the year for Lewis & Clark students, especially if you live on campus. Not only are students spending most of their time studying for exams, writing papers or putting projects together for their finals, but they are also expected to have their dorm rooms completely packed and ready to go amid their academic stress. 

Final examinations for this semester take place between April 29 and May 2. That means the vacation period starts exactly on May 3. May 3 is also the last day to move out for students who live in the dorms. 

Mind you, May 3 is also a Wednesday, meaning students are expected to be all moved out in the middle of the week. They do not even get until the end of the week to have all of their personal items removed from the residence halls. 

If a student needs to stay on campus past May 3 or is not moved out by the deadline time assigned by the school, they will be charged. Students who stay late will be charged $25 a night. If a student is not approved for late stay prior to the deadline stay longer, they will be charged $150. This means that students who do not want to be charged for not being moved out by the deadline have to pack up their dorm rooms during the final examination period. This is on top of the $8,514 per year students pay for a double/triple/quad dorm room on campus for a full academic year or $9,716 per year for a single. 

This forces students into a stressful situation, where they have to balance studying for their finals and trying to move out of their dorm room when they should instead be solely focusing on preparing for their upcoming exams. 

For the amount of money that students are paying to live on campus for a full semester they should be given a substantial amount of time to move out.

Adding on to that, because students are rushing around trying to move out on time as well as finish their finals, they have difficulty finding time to say goodbye to their friends and other members of the LC community. 

I was always in a fortunate position that my wonderful mother was able to make the trip up to the school from California by car to help me move out of my dorm room when I was still living on campus. 

Unfortunately, there are many students who live on campus that do not have the luxury of being able to have their families come to help them move out. 

The chaos of moving is one of the main reasons why I chose to live in an off-campus apartment my senior year, rather than go through the anxiety of scrambling to move out of my dorm room on time, while also trying to prepare for all my scheduled finals. 

I cannot think of a substantial reason why the school cannot give the students until the end of the week to get moved out of their dorms so they can prioritize preparing for their finals. 

I mean, if they can give graduating seniors an extra day to get their things moved out, why can they not have the same consideration for the rest of the student body? 

Last year, graduating students were able to move out of their dorm rooms the day after graduation, which means that the school is capable of giving students more time to stay on campus and get moved out following the move-out date. 

Students should not have to carry the anxiety of balancing both the stress of final exams, as well as making sure they are completely moved out of their dorm room the day after the last day of the final exam period. 

They should be able to prioritize their studies during finals and not worry about scrambling to get completely moved out by the next day.