Welcome to campus ladies! I know life has been a blur of excitement lately. From buying dorm decor to traveling across the state (or country, or world!), everything is changing as the culmination of your preparations begins to approach: the first day of school.
Amidst the chaos, you may have dedicated much thought to the day. What do I wear? How do I make friends? What if I get lost? Her Campus TCU has you covered. Check out our back to school article series for more tips and tricks!
For now though, let’s tackle the supplies side of the first day of school. Your backpack is your new best friend. It can’t be too heavy since you need to lug it across campus in the Texas heat, but you also need to ensure it’s packed with everything you might need. Your chronic overthinker has you covered! Here are the top 10 items I recommend carrying in your backpack for college.
1. Chargers
Be sure to carry a phone charger and a laptop charger. You’ll be using both devices a significant amount during the day, so it’s helpful to have an extra cord or portable charger to save you when your tech starts to succumb to the stress of the day.
2. Mints
I know gum is the most common breath freshener to carry, but there are benefits to packing old-school mints. First, they don’t melt in the heat! Gum can get sticky in your bag. Second, there’s no need to awkwardly stand up during class to spit it out. Third, people never ask to have a mint when you pull out a tin, so no need to fear running out of gum on day one due to the greedy hands of under-packers.
3. Umbrella
This one seems weird, I know, but it does rain in Fort Worth occasionally. I’ll never forget the first day of my sophomore year when the storms resembled monsoons and the campus was drowning. Our bags were soaked through, our laptops and notebooks ruined. An umbrella or poncho in my bag that day would have saved me and every other TCU student a world of pain. I promise it’s worth it.
4. Extra pens and pencils
While most classes and college students emphasize the use of computers or iPads for note-taking, you’ll want a small set of pens, pencils, and highlighters on hand just in case you need them. Odds are, at least one professor will be anti-technology, and your preparedness will go a long way.
5. A notebook or loose leaf paper
Along the same lines as those pens and pencils, you might need some spare paper for notes on the first day or for fun activities that professors plan to get to know you. Again, you don’t know the ins and outs of your courses on the first day, so better to come prepared.
6. Snacks
I can’t speak for everyone, but suddenly clocking six miles of walking every day across campus was a good enough cause for me to start taking snacks to class. This is great if you have several classes back to back or if you know you’re prone to a grumbling stomach. Keep it lowkey — nothing too loud, pungent, meltable, or messy.
7. Tampons
For my sake, for your sake, and for the women around you, please carry a few extra tampons (or pads, whatever floats your boat) in your backpack. You never know what the stress of your first day could trigger in your body. This is also a great item to have floating in your bag all year. You’ll thank your past self one day.
8. Deodorant and chafe stick
Texas summer sweat is no joke. I suggest carrying a mini deodorant stick or a spray deodorant to combat the slick stench of southern heat between classes. On top of that, I personally find a chafe stick to be helpful too. Once again, wearing shorts while walking around all day can be uncomfortable. You can stash a stick like this one in your bag to prevent any discomfort from your clothes chafing or even your backpack straps bothering your shoulders.
9. Makeup bag
Throw some makeup minis in your bag! Lipgloss, mascara, chapstick, powder, you name it. Having extras of your daily routine for touchups helps keep you looking and feeling fresh all day. This is also a great bag to add hand sanitizer to. You’ll be shaking lots of hands and opening tons of doors, not to mention the sheer mass of germs that dorms accrue during those first weeks. Using hand sanitizer can help you fight off freshman sickness.
10. sunglasses and sunscreen
Protect yourself from the UV! Please throw some sunglasses and sunscreen into your bag to keep yourself from squinting or getting burnt walking between buildings on campus. It’s something many people forget and immediately regret in those first few days.