Throwback Thursday to a great kick off to Bethel University’s school year

Marissa Gamache | News Editor

Freshman Megan Olson embarked on a 20 mile journey from her home in Maple Grove to transition to life at Bethel. Megan Olson’s parents weren’t surprised by all of the help, but the enthusiasm and energy of the move-in crew caught them off guard.

“It was awesome,” Olson’s mother said of the Welcome Week move-in. “We had heard about it but had no idea it would be like this.” Olson is an only child and the change for her parents sending their only child off to college was made easier knowing she will be at a Christ centered campus.

Bethel welcomed all of the 2019 class to campus last Thursday with the Welcome Week staff, Bethel Student Government, Pray First and Shift moving the students into their dorms. For parents, the burden of moving their child into their room was lifted with the many hands that pitched in to make the day a success.

JJ Anderson’s sister graduated from Bethel last spring, but Anderson’s mom said was she was just as impressed with the move-in process the second time.

“You kind of forget after four years what it is really like,” she said. “It’s great.”

The Welcome Week crew arrived early to plan a weekend full of activities, but for many, the highlight of the role is moving new students in on Wednesday and Thursday. Sophomore Courtney Peterson experienced Welcome Week from the staff-side for the first time this year.

“Everyone was encouraging everyone else to keep moving, we kept boosting each other up,” She said. The constant encouragement from one another allowed them to move over 700 students, and their stuff, in over two days. “I also think that all the friends I made through the experience really helped and was encouraging.”

It was no small task Peterson pointed out the struggle of being so busy throughout the week. “Being tired and exhausted a was a challenge,” she said. “I would go to bed at 1:00 a.m. and would have to be up as early as 6:00 a.m. the same day.

“I am not nervous for him because I believe God has a plan for him at Bethel,” Samuel Krueger’s mom said, echoing the wishes of the new vice president for student life, William Washington. In a speech to the Welcome Week staff prior to move-in, Washington implored the Welcome Week students to usher in the new class of students with enthusiasm and the love of God.

“As you go out and you welcome people to their new home,” Washington said, “here’s your mission: to touch lives, to greet people, to help people and to help them recognize this is the place where God has called them to be.”