This New Hampshire College Tradition is Like No Other, and Should be Replicated at Every University

This weekend, a younger cousin of mine shipped off to college for the first time. Before he left, however, I was able to share some of my fondest memories of my life with him - those memories coming from my time at Franklin Pierce University.

Near the end of the conversation on the night before he left, I told him that I hoped he did not lift a finger on move-in day...he was confused. How else would he move his entire life three floors up into his freshman dorm?

Franklin Pierce University Move-In Day Tradition

Students and their parents/family, do not lift a thing during move-in day. Whether the incoming student is on the first floor by the exit, or the furthest room on the third floor, returning students, sports teams, professors, admins, etc., move in all incoming students' stuff.

Even the University President helps, and it is the most wholesome yet energetic day imaginable.

I am sure there are various reasons this tradition is alive. Most obviously, it makes the move-in process FAST. Someone has to stay with the car to move it, because it is going to be emptied and ready for long-term parking within 30 seconds.

The other reason is to ease the nerves of incoming students and their parents. Every single returning student has had the same process done to them. It is a way to say welcome to Raven Nation, you are a part of the family now. We look after one another...starting now...and always.

Long story made short, I told my cousin that if he has to move anything himself that he should leave right then and there.