Lesson 1: Going, Arriving and Getting Around
What to take?
A few good things to take with you when you live in residence are storage bins! You will need them. Get them after you move in, because then you can eyeball how small the nooks and corners are you want to stuff your storage boxes in. Take a good cookbook, one that is specifically written for people with little time and a small budget. Check if there is a communal kitchen available in your residence. Most colleges offer meal plans, but if you have allergies or specific dietary requirements you might want to steer clear. Depending on the price range, in most cases you will end up saving money by cooking yourself and it will be much easier to control the freshmen 15. The freshmen 15 refer to the 15 pounds average weight gain among freshmen, specifically those who no longer live at home and eat from moms good cooking. High calorie and fatty foods are a daily occurrence in college, and eventually you will have to learn how to balance your diet. A complete lesson on nutrition will follow.
Don’t forget to pack dictionaries and a thesaurus, regardless if you will be taking languages you will probably find a use for them. Avoid taking your entire closet, because that will force you to pack clothes whenever you go home and there is a good chance your entire wardrobe will not fit in your room. Take the essentials for all kinds of weather and all occasions. You want to be prepared for exam crunch-time (sweatpants!) and you want to be able to change into something better for a party.
If you are going to be living in a dorm pack presentable PJ’s, you will probably have to walk from your room to the bathrooms through a public hallway. It is time to ditch the ten-year-old bottoms with ninja turtles on them. Also take a robe, it keeps you warm and it’s easy to put on in the middle of the night.
If you like to read, have a stack of books ready to go with you. You will not be spending every waking moment either studying or partying, so when things get boring it’s good to have something to do. If you have a good movie collection, pack those as well; it will make you really popular with your floor mates/roommates. Don’t forget who you lend them out to if you are planning to be generous. People tend to forget things, and by move-out date you do not want to be frantically hunting down people for your belongings.
Speaking of belongings; if you are taking valuables and you know you will be sharing a dorm room with a roommate, take a suitcase that has a lock on it. Don’t take valuable things if you cannot lock them away. Do not opt for number locks; they take about 15 minutes to open by just cracking the code. Keep the key in your wallet or another safe place. If you are afraid you will loose it put it on your key chain, if you are going to loose your room key, well then you can have the lock broken. You can store away jewelry or other valuables, but don’t broadcast where it is. You just never know, it would not be the first time roommates can’t keep their hands away from another persons belonging. However there is a good chance you will end up with a perfectly great person who completely respects you and your things. There is just no way to tell before actually living with them!
Buy a large box of granola bars and trail mix, you’ll need it the morning you find out you have no bread, the milk went stale and you are late for class. If you are lucky enough to already own a beer fridge, take it with you. If you don’t have one, there are a few very affordable ones out there and there is nothing like having your own cold drink at reach.
Buy a good day planner and highlighters. You need to get very organized, if you aren’t already. A lot of college students actually forget their exams and not all colleges will allow you to retake one if there is no medical emergency. If you get organized from day one, you will have a much better time around exams and you will be able to laugh others in the face.
