Even going into your later years of college packing can be scary. After freshman year you have accumulated even more stuff, and now have to move it all back into a differently shaped and either smaller or bigger space. At this point you probably also have different roommates with their own belongings you'll have to configure yours around. This list is a bunch of stuff I've learned can be very handy in an apartment or dorm situation. Most of it has multiple uses, that way you don't have to pack two items that do the same job.
1. Meat tenderizer
Last year when my roommates and I were moving into our new apartment, we took a day to hang up all of our decorations around the house. The problem was none of us had hammers. This may not apply if you're living in a dorm room with concrete walls, but our meat tenderizer was used to hang up pictures, tenderize meat and weigh things down.
2. Carpet Tape
If you are a part of the gymnastics or dance world, you may already know of the secret use of this little item. Carpet tape is great at holding down hems and keeping certain escaping body parts in place. It can also be used around the house for actual carpets, or as extra force in arts and crafts.
3. Succulents
Although succulents don't technically have a second use, they are great at brightening up a boring dorm room space. They also require very minimal care, so for less work you can still have really adorable plant life.
4. Pack Your Stuff Into Fun Tote Bags
Although this isn't actually one item, packing your stuff in cute tote bags will make your life easier later on. You can pack up your clothes and shoes in them when leaving for school. Then later on use those same bags as gym bags, green grocer bags, or when you get bored of your backpack (or when it's just too full and you need more space).
5. The Infamous Lanyard
Although the college lanyard is well-known to be a tell tale sign of who is and isn't a freshman, it can actually be yourself. Go ahead and use it your freshman year, you definitely don't want to be the freshman who loses their ID the first week of school. However, after that it can help you keep track of your car keys, apartment key, and new mini store rewards cards.
All in all packing for college can be pretty stressful. You have try to pack a whole lifetime of things into a little dorm room, anticipate any of your future needs, and share space with a totally new person. On top of that, your faced with leaving home, either again or for the first time, and living life in a newish city while finding your way through majors and friends and extracurriculars. If you can get the packing down to a science, it may just make the rest of your college life easier.
