After I graduated from high school I spent the entire summer excitedly preparing for college. I read every packing list on Pinterest and watched every advice video on YouTube to make sure I had everything I needed to survive my freshman year. However, I still managed to forget some of the most important items I needed during my first semester. Here's a list of things you definitely don't want to forget to bring to college:
1. Rain gear. All of it.
This is an obvious thing to check off your packing list but I only brought rain boots to school with me, completely forgetting my umbrella. I also realized I needed to invest in a proper rain jacket for the trek across campus. If you go to UCA a kayak might be useful as well.
2. Shower shoes.
Another staple item that I didn't realize I had forgotten until I was on my way to the showers.
3. Mattress pad.
I thought I could save some money and deal with the hard mattress in my dorm, and I was terribly mistaken. Invest in a nice pad, it's worth it.
4. Water filtration bottle.
Carrying a flat of water bottles up three flights of stairs every week was extremely annoying. And not to mention the water fountains in my hall looked gross and the water always tasted funny. It's much easier to carry one bottle and be guaranteed purified water anywhere on campus.
5. House shoes.
Dorm rooms and hallways are incredibly gross no matter how clean of a person you think you are. I couldn't stand walking around barefooted or even in socks in my room because of all the shed hair everywhere and whatever that sticky pink stuff leaking from our fridge was. It wasn't long before I had to pick up some slippers.
6. Yoga mat.
I didn't bring a yoga mat to college because I don't practice yoga. I do, however, like doing body weight and ab exercises in my room, and the hard tile makes that impossible unless you have enough padding.
7. Medicine.
My biggest tip is to bring a tub full of any medicine you could possibly need with you to college. Once you start coming down with something and you're parents aren't there to comfort you or run to the drug store for you, the last thing you want to be doing is using someone else's medicine or making a trip to Walgreens.
8. Baseball cap.
Wearing hats wasn't allowed in high school so I was forced to wash and fix my hair everyday. In college hats are acceptable and are perfect for concealing four day old hair during finals week. Or, every week if you're me. I like my Nike Featherlight Dri-FIT hat because it's super comfy and makes me look like I work out.
9. 10-ft charger/power strip.
No matter how you arrange your room your bed will probably be too far from an outlet to comfortably lay in bed and play on your phone all night. This makes a 10-foot charger is a necessity, as well as, a power strip to plug in all your electronics/lamps at once.
10. Staples, hole punch, envelopes.
Buying school supplies was one of the best parts of preparing for college, yet I still managed to forget these important items. I used these more than I thought I would.
11. Travel coffee mug.
If you're anything like me then you value sleep over most things, so there's no time in the morning to drink your coffee before going to class. If you're a coffee drinker, a travel mug may have been a no-brainer. If you're not a coffee drinker, you will be by about mid-September so I'd go ahead and stock up on a few. I like super motivational ones like this:
