See below for some fun & helpful advice from 3 current and recently graduated Grove City College students!!
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Here you are. You have arrived at the summer in which you’ll be finally filling your bags, loading your trunks, and frantically running back to the store for last-minute essentials. No worries, we all forget something once in a while—thankfully, you’ll have a hall full of new friends to help you out when you realize you left your dental floss at home. But while you are finishing up your last suitcases, we wanted to make sure you didn’t forget some less practical essentials that we suggest you think about packing! We, three current & recently graduated students here at GCC, put together this list for you to check out before you make your last shopping run: 11 Things You Shouldn’t Leave for College Without…
- Sticky notes and note cards
Use these to leave random notes on friends’ doors, desks, or to send through intra-campus mail. Who doesn’t appreciate a good encouragement note or anonymous joke every now and then? Or, if you’re anything like us, you’ll use your Post-its to make important notes-to-self on an almost daily basis.
- Flip flops & a Bathroom Caddy
Whatever type of dorm/bathroom style, flip flops are a nice and comfortable addition to consider. Depending on the type of freshman hall you have, there may be shelving space in the bathrooms to store your shampoo, toothpaste, etc., so investing in a small bathroom caddy is helpful!
- Storage containers
Keep yourself organized and make your momma proud—don’t let your shoes fly all over the floor. Bring plastic storage drawers or boxes to slide up on the top shelf of your closet.
- Picnic blanket
We enjoy studying, napping, throwing Frisbees, and hanging out on the quad (the large grassy lawn on campus). We recommend bringing a blanket to make sitting out in the sun even more enjoyable.
- Command strips
As wonderful as duct tape is, it is not permitted for use on the walls here in our dorms. You’re allowed to have sticky tack, masking tape, and command strips. From our years of experience, we recommend a good stock of command strips and hooks so that the sticky tack doesn’t give out and your photo frames don’t tumble to the floor in the middle of the night.
- Things to hang on the blank walls
Speaking of walls, who likes a blank white wall? We don’t. Bring pictures, posters, flags, art—whatever you prefer to keep your room feeling homey and happy.
- Headphones
Whether you’re are trying to drown out the background noise in the library or need to get in the study zone in your dorm room, you’ll be glad you have your headphones for when unexpected distractions threaten your concentration. (Like when your roommate comes back from class and is on the phone with his/her mom—don’t want those important phone calls to throw off your writing groove!) - An Agenda/Planner book
This is one of those tools that may seem laughable to you, especially if you’ve never used one. Maybe you’ve found your memory to be sufficient for recalling your to-do list in high school. However, once college hit, we found that a planner was more useful than ever for keeping track of an endless number of homework due dates, exam days, meetings, classes, dinner with friends, etc.
- Games to play on weekends
Even though we all know we will be doing homework over the weekends, it’s nice to have some games on hand for Friday and Saturday night study breaks when there are no dances, concerts, theater productions, or fun events to go to.
- Dress clothes
Seriously. You will definitely have your friends’ closets at your disposal for borrowing a dress or a tie, but make sure you bring a few nicer outfits for formal events (networking, career fair, dances, presentations, church, etc.).
- Lamps and Christmas Lights!
These make your room look better all year round. Also a good lamp for warmer lighting is something we all prefer to the overhead lights in the dorm rooms.
So there you have it! Don’t leave home without considering bringing along these college essentials. As always, comment below or contact us with any questions or concerns!