Every freshman comes into their first semester of college packed to the max. You probably brought way too many clothes, 12 different pens, an amazing amount of wall decor, an overpriced planner, and all the essentials you rummaged the internet to find. Every freshman will also learn a set of quirky tricks to make the day-to-day living in a shoe closet easier. Here are a few of my discovered hacks for dorm life.

1. A Magnet Door Jam

If you are like many of my friends and I, you forgot a door jam to prop your door open and as the semester progresses, your case of water becomes to light to do the job. If your dorm door is situated in a metal frame, adhere a small circular magnet to the inside of the frame so the door hits it before closing. You can now go to the bathroom without taking your keys! Congrats!

2. Bring Old Grocery From Home

Everyone has a little trash can in their room and trust me you will get lazy and not want to take your food trash down to the common hall trashcan. Bring old plastic shopping bags from Walmart and hang them on a hook in your room or stow them away in a drawer. These make awesome small trash bags that can be easily tied up and thrown out.

3. Specifically Placing Your Power Strip

If you have done your research, you are aware hat extension cords are a necessity to have, especially when your dorm room has limited plug availability.Thus this brings us to the next dorm trick: plug a power strip (surge protector) into the plug closest to your bed. I am bunked so my strip is plugged in and attached to the wall above my bed with adhesive strips. This makes charging your laptop and phone so convenient at night or when you are in your bed studying.

4. Stackable Desk Organization

Your college dorm desk is probably larger than the one you have at home if you have one at home; however, with your living space being cramped, things tend to pile up on your desk. In order to give you the maximum amount of space, buy organizational products that stack into each other and/or can fit in a desk drawer. This will keep you more organized and will keep your desk free for your laptop, notes or food.

There are a plethora of other dorm hacks and tricks to help anyone adjust or make their college dorm easier to live in but these are the few that I developed. They may not all be applicable to every personality or dorm.