MLC Senior Meghan Johnson and junior Mark Vogel help new students move into the dorm Thursday.

NEW ULM – The Martin Luther College (MLC) campus is filling up with students again with the fall semester starting Monday, Aug. 25.

The first round of MLC students arrived last weekend. The first students to return were the student-athletes. The foot ball team arrived last Friday, soccer and volleyball arrived last Saturday. Golf and cross country returned on Wednesday.

MLC President Rich Gurgel said this might not seem like much, but with half of MLC students involved in inter-school scholastic sports, a large amount of the student body is already on campus. The bulk of the freshman and transfer students move into the dorms on Thursday and Friday.

Thursday, MLC staff and student volunteers were on campus to show new arriving students where to go and help them get situated.

Student ambassadors, sophomore Adelyn Kemintz and junior Olivia Klabunde, were stationed near the Summit Street entrance to campus to give parking direction for the new students and their parents.

Klabunde said the mood for move-in day was exciting, with the returning students happy to be back in New Ulm.

“Everyone loves being in New Ulm, it is so welcoming,” she said.

As returning students, Kemintz and Klabunde had plenty of advice for the new students.

“Soak in the experience,” Kemnitz said. “When you get more involved in new things, you can see how welcoming the community is.”

Klabunde said it was important to focus on classes, but also reminded new students to have fun and go on adventures and see the community.

“We’re here to focus on God’s word and the next chapter of our lives, but we will never have this chapter again,” she said. “This is when you will meet so many friends.”

MLC junior, Jack Pittenger, gave similar advice. He said the new students should invest in relationships.

“The relationships you have here will last a lifetime,” he said. Since MLC is part of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) it is not unusual for many of the students to be working with each other later in life.

“Hang on to these connections,” Pittenger said. “They will take care of you later in life.”

In the MLC chapel, Professors Scott Schmudach and Adam Pavelchik were handing out campus information to new students, which included laundry bags.

The two professors were both excited for the new year. Schmudach said two of the dormitories saw overhauls to the bathroom and shower facilities over the summer. The campus received roughly $4 million in infrastructure improvements.

There was also a renovation to the Old Main front entrance that should be completed by November. The stairs will be fully covered, allowing accessibility during the winter.

Pavelchik was happy to see a larger class of incoming students this year. He said the most exciting part of the year was when the students were able to conduct their first field experience and teach a class. This would likely happen in January at the start of the second semester.

At the center of campus, several student groups and clubs were working to induct new members. Senior Jason Horn and sophomore Elijah Bagasao worked to recruit new members to Forum, MLC’s theatre organization. This year, MLC’s theatre department will have productions of “Little Women” in November and “Murder on the Orient Express” in February.

Horn’s advice to new students was to get out and see as many new people as possible.

“Don’t be afraid to get out of the dorms and meet people,” he said.

Bagasao said, “Don’t be afraid of the classroom. The homework might seem insurmountable, but its easy once you get going and the professors are there to help.”

The busiest students on campus were the returning students helping move their new peers into the dorm halls. There were two groups of student volunteers, one on each end of the campus, helping unload vehicles and take it into the new dorms.

A friendly rivalry had begun between two the student volunteers. Mark Vogel, a Junior from Grand Rapids, Michigan and Caleb Chmielewski a senior from Milwaukee, Wisconsin were competing to see who could move the most refrigerators into the dorms on Thursday and Friday.

Chmielweski set a record last year by moving 22 refrigerators into the dorms over a two-day period. Vogel wanted to surpass that record. Every time a vehicle pulled into the MLC parking lot, Vogel rushed to get the refrigerator first.

By 1 p.m. Thursday, Vogel had moved nine fridges. However, Chmielewski had managed to move 12 fridges in the same amount of time. Chmielewski was confident he would break his record by the end of move-in on Friday.

Campus staff were supportive of the competition as it encouraged a quick and efficient move in process for the new students and their family.

Jeffrey Schone, vice-president of student life at MLC, was assisting with the move-in process and said it was going extremely well. He praised the favorable weather as well as the student volunteers for their hard work and for giving a great first impression for the new students and their families.

The last of the new MLC students will be moved into the dorms by Friday evening. The remaining upperclassmen will arrive Saturday and Sunday. By the end of the weekend, a little over 600 MLC students will be at class and back in the New Ulm community.

[gallery ids=”964823,964824,964827,964826,964825,964828″