About two months before you first move in to college you have already consulted the Pinterest gods and know exactly what your dorm room is going to look like. Online you find tons of helpful articles about what to bring to college, and you follow these checklists dutifully because if you forget one single item, your first semester is going to suck. But here is a little article from someone who has already been through the beautiful yet terrible struggles of freshman year to write about the things people bring to college and actually never used.
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1. Toolbox
Yes, I know it sounds handy when your dad brings up needing to fix things at a moment’s notice. But really, the only time you’ll use a hammer is when hanging up something, and a tennis shoe can do that job just fine. The rest of the toolkit will sit under your bed and take up precious space because the only things that break down and require the needs of a toolkit will easily be handled by the residence hall.
2. Iron
And its trusty side kick: the ironing board. Don’t let the Bed Bath and Beyond “mini irons” trick you into thinking you’re going to need one for college; trust me you won’t. On the rare, rare occasion you wear anything besides a t-shirt during the day (and if you iron your t-shirts there is going to be a severe adjustment to certain priorities in college) the nicer things will probably be so infrequently worn that they will not have any wrinkles. And even if they do, hang the item up outside of your shower or in a humid place and those wrinkles will come right out.
3. Books
Fellow bookworms, I support you. And like you once, I thought about bringing my favorite “oldies but goodies” to college as well as a couple of fresh Barnes and Noble purchases for some light reading to decompress in my free time. But the reality is that there is no free time. And there is no light reading. The majority of your free time will be spent eating or taking naps (the new form of decompression).
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4. High School T-Shirts
If you show up to college with more than three T-shirts, you have already over packed. Not only does nobody care that you were on the track team in high school, but you will get so many free t-shirts (especially if you’re in a sorority) everywhere on campus its kind of ridiculous. And more likely than not you will wear your favorite 5 and just rotate them every week (washing required please).
5. A Frisbee
Thinking of throwing around a Frisbee in the lawn with a couple of your new friends and actually doing it are two very different things. Not only is there the impending fear of tripping while catching the Frisbee and falling on your face for everyone to see, but I don’t think there are any major breaks that allot “Frisbee time.” Go study instead.
6. 3-Ring Binder
Upon my first week of college, I discovered the magical “notebook layout view” in Microsoft word. Ever since then I have never looked back. And when you have four classes back to back on Tuesday/Thursday, carrying around 4 separate binders is going to feel like carrying around a bag of rocks by 12:30. Now my binders sit on my shelf, untouched and still neat, which makes me look way more organized than I actually am.
7. Â Kitchen Utensils
Under demand of my mother, I brought real spoons, forks, bowls, and even a spatula (for those late night pancakes?). My roommate was the clever one and brought plastic everything. After about one week, you can guess who got tired of doing the dishes after eating a single bowl of cereal.
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So there you have it; a complete guide to what the Bed Bath and Beyond packing lists don’t tell you. I hope that leaving these cumbersome items behind leaves you with less clutter in your already too small dorm room (seriously, how are two people supposed to live in those) and less clutter in this new chapter of your life. We all know you are going to need it.Â
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