Coming to college I saw endless amounts of packing lists, but there were a few things I didn’t know I would need until I was on my own for a little while. There are some things that are just small inconveniences and other things that you just forget that you need when you’re on your own for the first time. I packed everything from air fresheners to an unnecessary amount of blankets, but here’s what I didn’t know I’d need as much as I do until coming to campus.
1. One of those card holders for your phone.
Carrying around your phone and a backpack is normal, but when you’re cramming your wallet in there it can take up a lot of space. These are a blessing to just stick on the back of your phone so that you aren’t stuck toting around an entire purse when you are walking around campus or if you are going out.
2. Scantrons.
Throughout all of high school, scantrons were provided for us as students. It was something that threw off a lot of freshmen when it came time for their first test. This was something on the packing list of what you needed to buy previous to coming to college.
3. A portable cell phone charger.
Phones die all the time and if you are stuck in four back to back lectures, chances are your battery is going to be drained before lunch. While hooking your phone up to your laptop can work, laptops don’t charge phones as well and you can’t always get that prime seat next to an outlet.
4. Business professional clothes.
I wore a lot of dresses in high school but when coming to college, my older friends and parents told me not to take them all to college. So I only took a few and the ones for recruitment. It wasn’t until bid day that I realized I was going to need a white dress (for a numerous amount of events) as well as a blazer and heels for all the interviews for campus organizations. I had a friend whose mother express-shipped a blazer to her for an interview because she hadn’t brought one either.
5. Quarters.
I never have enough quarters. People are always looking for someone who does have quarters and the coin return machines seem to never be working either. Having to stock up on quarters is crucial because the last thing you want is to be one quarter short of being able to put your laundry in the dryer. It takes a lot for you to be willing to pay for something using any quarters. Need 25 cents? Two dimes and nickel sounds great. Save those quarters for laundry.
6. Enough Nike shorts or yoga pants to last until the next time you did laundry.
Nothing is worse than only getting a few days into the week and realizing that you don’t have any more clean yoga pants or shorts. Having to do laundry is bad enough with campus washing machines, but running out of clean comfy clothes means you have to actually put together an outfit for the day and that means you’ll get those weird looks from your friends who are confused by your change in attire.
7. An umbrella.
Because when the weather randomly changes and you walk out to see this, you’re going to need it. While rain jackets can also help for the unfortunate weather, sometimes you don’t take your rain jacket to class with you because the forecast said sunny and 75 degrees. But then when you walk out of your 9 a.m. lecture and its pouring (thank you ever changing southern weather). You’re going to wish you had an umbrella in that empty space in your backpack.
8. An unlimited supply of toilet paper/paper towels.
It seems as though no matter how much you buy, you are always running out. When living at home I don’t think we ever ran out of toilet paper or paper towels. I buy the industrial Costco packs for my suite and it still seems like there is never enough. And if you’re an Auburn student, toilet paper is even scarcer during football season.
9. A 10-foot charging cord.
The outlets in the dorms seem to be just randomly placed and sometimes are quite literally five or more feet away from places like your bed or desk. When you’re trying to write a paper or just lay in bed, its nice to have your phone, but if its dead sometimes you can’t have it near you because of where the outlets are. This is an even bigger issue if your bed is lofted. Since we can’t have extension cords in the dorm, a 10-foot charging cable is the next best thing.
10. Sleep.
I never napped at all in high school, if I did my parents knew something was wrong and I was probably sick. The whole “You get to pick two of these things when you go to college: sleep, a social life, and good grades.” Is completely true and nine times out of 10 you are going to sacrifice sleep. When I come home on breaks or weekends, basically all I do is sleep. There is something about your real bed and not having responsibilities for the weekend that lets your body catch up on all your lost sleep.
11. To know how to navigate the grocery store.
All those trips with your mom you took for granted. You never knew you should have been trying to study the aisles of the grocery store so that when you were on your own you wouldn’t be lost on the cereal aisle trying to find microwave easy mac.
12. All of your beach supplies.
Spur of the moment beach trips sound great, until you realize the only thing you brought for the beach was a swimsuit. Not much else made the packing list, because normally when you go to the beach your mom gets all the towels and generic supplies.
13. Tissues.
I’m sorry for not being more grateful for the seemingly never ending supply of Kleenex that was in my home. It wasn’t until I got sick first semester and was blowing my nose into tough paper towels that I realized I really missed tissues. They also come in handy during your mid-finals week mental breakdown.
14. Jumper cables.
While many people do have these in their car, it’s more likely to be people that are driving trucks or Jeeps. Most students who drive sedans don’t have jumper cables on hand. At some point, you’ve probably either left your lights on, left your radio on, or you just left your car with your flashers on in 15 minute parking for more like 45 minutes and had to ask around to find someone with jumper cables so that you could move your car.
15. Tools.
Thank goodness one of my suitemates had a set of tools (pink tools I might add) that we could use for first semester. We had bed and desk shelves to put together on our own and we would have just had a large pile of wood sitting in our living room if she hadn’t had tools. I also never would have been able to change my expired license plate without them. They are vital to living on your own, and I’ll definitely be investing in my own before next fall.
16. Drano.
You don’t know a clogged drain until you’ve shared a shower with three other girls and you all decide to wash your hair on the same day. Needless to say, it's gross and nobody wants to touch the dreaded giant hair clump that’s clogging the drain. Drano is important if you don’t want to get in a fight with your one blond roommate who has clearly shed half their head of hair in the shower.
17. Crafting supplies.
Especially if you are in a sorority, this is crucial. It seems like there is always something you need to be crafting for. Whether it’s a cooler for a formal or something for your little, there is always crafting to be done and nobody ever has everything they need.
18. All those costumes your mom wouldn’t let you throw away.
When the list of swap themes come out, girls run to party city and thrift stores to buy whatever they can for all the themes; forgetting about that box of costumes and old clothes their mom saved for years knowing they would be useful at some point. For most people, it wasn’t until you had socials later in the semester and went home that they remembered these costumes and elected to stop wasting your money on cheap costumes and utilize what was just sitting at home.
19. Caffeine.
There are days where you can hardly keep your eyes open and nights where you may be up to one or two in the morning finishing a paper. Coffee or another caffeinated drink is going to become your best friend for those situations where you are struggling to make coherent sentences. While not everyone loves coffee, I know plenty of people who just down a Dr. Pepper or some Diet Coke to help keep their energy levels up.
20. Your parents.
I knew my parents were going to be missed, but it wasn’t until I was having to do everything on my own that I realized how many little things they did for me on a daily basis. My parents always had a stocked kitchen cabinet and knew which kind of paper towels were the most absorbent and always had laundry detergent and could tell me if that dry clean only dress really meant I couldn’t machine wash it. So thanks for helping ease me into adulthood, but sometimes I really wish I had y’all here to help with the organized chaos that is my life on a daily basis.
