It’s the beginning of September — the air is getting cooler and campus is becoming busy again — time to start a new semester. This time of year is both exciting and nerve-wracking, especially for new college students, such as my brother Michael. Last week, my family and I saw him off to the University of Pennsylvania.

    My brother packed all his clothes into a suitcase, and also purchased all of his dormitory essentials: a refrigerator, a television, stationeries, bed sheets and more. Our parents had to drive two cars just to fit all of his college gear!

    The roads to the university were crowded with people and we followed the road signs to Michael’s college house, where a team of student volunteers were ready to help. They loaded all of Michael’s things into three long cardboard boxes and pushed them into the main plaza in front of Michael’s college house. Meanwhile, Michael and I went to collect his college ID card. The card verifies his identity as a Penn student and allows him to enter and exit college buildings as well as purchase meals from the cafeterias.

    We spent the next couple of hours moving his things into his dorm room and fixing all the items into position. It was a tight fit because the dorm room was just about 20 square meters. Michael lives with his roommate, Justin, who had already moved in three days ago.

    When Michael was all settled at his new home it was time to say goodbye. That’s probably what thousands of parents and siblings felt: What a bittersweet experience! We each gave him a big hug before we left.