It's time for School!!!

Hey Everyone (: 

First of all, did yall notice the new look? I decided that it was time for a new background & layout. I hope yall like it. Just thought I'd point that out. Anyway...

It’s that time of year again! School is starting soon and all of you upcoming freshies probably have no idea where to start when it comes time to buy things for your dorm. As I'm preparing for my sophomore year,  one of my cousins  who is starting college asked me to make her a master list of things that she would need for college. I decided to post it on here in hopes that it will make someone else’s life easier too.

Enjoy (:

Things you need for college (in no particular order)

1.       Shower shoes (especially if you have yucky community showers like  I did)

2.       A good pair of tennis shoes. My school is super hilly. Often times girls try to walk around in sandals, flats and other non walking type shoes and end up being on crutches because of excessive stress in the arches of their feet

3.       A Broom (if you have tile floors in your dorm)

4.       An area rug (if you have tile floors in your dorm)

5.       A mini vacuum, if you decide to purchase an area rug

***Note: with both the broom and the vacuum, you can just stick it out and mooch off of your dormmates for their brooms/vacuum. My roommate & I didn’t have a vacuum, so we just borrowed from our friends J

6.       Cleaning items:

a.       Windex (we used windex wipes. They come in handy for cleaning mirrors, dirty laptop key boards, desks etc),

b.       dish washing detergent (even if you’re on the meal plan, you’ll prob have some plates, cups etc  from going out to eat that you might want to  wash and reuse)

c.       Air freshener (I bought a big spray bottle of febreeze and it lasted the entire year)

d.      Lysol spray

7.       Rain Boots and a good medium sized umbrella- trust me, these are a must! Remember you have to trek across campus to all of your classes, regardless of weather. Nothing sucks more than sitting in a freezing cold classroom for an hour with wet tennis shoes/sandals. Also, clear dome umbrellas are really popular on my campus because they come down over your backpack & keep you totally dry.

8.       A good alarm clock. Some people just use their cell phones, but I’m always scared that something might go wrong. I use my I-pod dock’s alarm and it never fails me.

9.       A desk lamp for when your roommate is sleeping and you are up studying.

10.   Toothpaste, deodorant, fluoride rinse, soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion, cocoa butter, Vaseline/chapstick etc (it’s easy to forget the basics)à I went to Sam’s Club and bought jumbo family sized products to get the most for my money. Then I bought travel sized bottles and containers to keep them in so that I don’t have to lug huge bottles to the bathroom every day.

11.   Razors, q-tips  cotton balls & nail polish remover (I am slightly obsessed with nail polish)

12.   Sanitary napkins, Tampons

13.   Hair bands, hair products, brush, comb, rollers, sleep scarf, shower cap

14.   A shower caddy. Mine is a big pink plastic one that came from bed bath & beyond. Also one of my neighbors gave me a monogrammed makeup bag that I also use as a shower caddy

15.   Vitamins, Tylenol, midol, allergy meds, Benadryl, inhaler, epi pen. If you have allergies/medical issues, make sure that you make a detailed list of all your allergies, medical needs and give a copy to your roommate, her/his family & maybe even your Resident Assistant. Ask for the same from your roommate. This way, if something happens to you, your roommate will know what to do.

16.   A Laptop & Printer (you don’t have to get a printer, but it makes things a lot easier if you have one of your own. I have one that is a copy machine, scanner and printer all in one. It’s a big investment, but you save a lot of money and time in the end because you don’t spend extra time and money trying to find a place to print or paying extra to print/copy.

17.   Printer ink

18.   A good lap top case

19.   Notebooks, college rule paper, printer paper

20.   Jump drive

21.   Wipes and hand sanitizers (they really come in handy, esp. if you don’t have a sink in your dorm)

22.   Casual, casual, casual clothes! College is super casual. I wear nothing but shorts/jeans/sweats and t-shirts. Bring a couple of dressy items for interviews/worship. Also don’t forget to bring a couple of items for when you go out with your friend. When you have limited space take only items that you are gonna wear. Try to find pieces that you can make lots of outfits with. Solid colors always work because you can pair them with multiple things. For example, I have a short black pencil skirt that I can match with lots of different tops for party nights. Also I have running shorts that can work for going to class, hitting the gym & lounging around the dorm.

23.   Snacks for your room and a case of water.  (Sometimes you get hungry when you’re up late studying & the dining halls are closed).

24.   A mini fridge (You may want to hold off on purchasing one. Your roommate might end up purchasing one and you can share with her.  Also, I didn’t waste time purchasing a microwave because our floor kitchen has one)

25.   a good id holder key chain. You can put your id and money in it & then you can put your keys (& I even put on of those pocket back hand sanitizers) on the key chain. This way you don't have to carry around a purse all the time.

26.   A lock for your closet door...so that when you go home your stuff will be safe.

27.   A damp rid. It's the little plastic container that you put on the floor in your closet. It soaks up all of the vapor in your closet so that your clothes don't get all mildewy. At the end of the year, both my roomate & my damp rids were full to the top with water that had been soaked up. 

28.   Space saving hangers

29.   Over the door hangers for shoes...I put my medicine stuff into it. 

30.   Oh I thought of more things.

31.   1.  A mattress topper (like an egg crate foam topper or even one of the more luxurious ones is great). Trust me, your bed is gonna be soooo uncomfortable.

32.   2. A couple of sets of sheets so that you can switch them out.

33.   3. A comforter, usually most dorms need size twin xl, but I would check with your school to make sure.

34.   4. An extra blanket to put under your comforter for the winter. Because if you're like my school, they might wait until 2 weeks before Christmas to turn on the heat -___-

35.   5. A throw for when your doing hmwk in your room & it's cold. Can you tell I'm cold natured? lol

36.   6. A bedside organizer. If your bed is lofted you can put this on the end of the bed & store your cell, books, water bottles etc so that you don't have to climb down in the middle of the night.
Happy Shopping Everyone!!!
xoxoxo
Jackie