Ah, young love.

The happy couples, UCSD and new freshmen, have gone through the journey just like every couple before them. On their first date (Admit Day), the future lovers are introduced and work hard to impress each other. Once the marriage (housing) contracts are signed, the newlyweds rekindle their passion on an enchanting honeymoon (orientation).

Alas, this will be the last time the lovers are on their best behavior.

After the meticulously scheduled short visits have come and gone, move-in for new freshmen is their first real experience with the university. That fateful September afternoon is the first day that UCSD lowers her guard and shows what she’s really like.

For some, the move-in is a breeze, and it portends a long, loving relationship with the university. For others, the marriage is rocky from the start. Mine was the rocky kind.

My family woke up early to make the two-hour drive to San Diego. We arrived to find disorder: The loading zones were jam-packed, the streets outside the dorms were treacherous, the elevator line was at times 20 people long (with elevator-sized loads of luggage). To add insult to injury, our brakes went out on North Torrey Pines Road.

Needless to say, it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

But there are measures that college residential life offices could take to ensure that move-in is the first of many good memories for new students.

The main problem is congestion. Hundreds of students with their families arrive within the window of one afternoon at whatever time they please. The result is mayhem.

Especially for problem areas like the John Muir College residence halls, residential life offices ought to take a page from the airlines and assign staggered move-in times.

The move-in windows could be assigned based on how far you live from UCSD. Local residents, who have the least distance to travel, would get the earliest times, Los Angelinos would get the green light shortly thereafter, and so on. With this system, freshmen from the far reaches of northern California wouldn’t be stuck with an unworkable 9 a.m. move-in time. Staggering the times at which residents arrive would alleviate freeway, elevator and parking-lot congestion.

Of course, staggering check-in times has its flaws. Some people will still want to move in early no matter what time slot they have, and others will come as late as they please no matter what. On top of that, there is bound to be some spillover into the next time slot by those who arrived late or need more time. But even if only half of the new residents showed up at their assigned time, the system would ease congestion at least a bit.

UCSD’s residential life services might also follow in the footsteps of their counterparts at UCLA. There, an extensive team of move-in staff steers confused and frustrated families through each step of move-in, providing parking direction, golfcart assistance, grocery-cart delivery, elevator efficiency organization, and more. A similar staff working at UCSD for one day out of the year would not cost much, and the avoided headaches would be well worth it.

And there are even simpler things that Housing and Dining Services could do to ease frustrations. Advise students to bring a dolly or check out a cart unless they’re certain they won’t need one.

Consider a Thurgood Marshall College-type drive-through check-in, which would allow people to park their cars and immediately take boxes up to the room, rather than parking and walking to the sign-in table, then walking back to the car for the first load. Lastly, warn people that the parking lots can fill up fast and there may be long lines, so they can plan ahead.

With only two weeks left until move-out, there isn’t time to plan and implement improvements for this year’s exodus of students from on-campus housing. There is, however, all summer to consider ways in which to improve the move-in process for the class of 2010 coming this September to a UCSD res hall near you.

Some say that moving in together is the first big test in a committed relationship. For UCSD and new freshmen to have a solid marriage, there’s no better foundation than a smooth move-in. Let’s give the new couple their best chance for success.