It is that time of year again- back to school sale time! Although it is my favorite time of year, I cringe as I see incoming freshman pushing their parents through Bed Bath and Beyond throwing every little thing into their already overflowing mountain of a cart. Now, we have all been there. I too was sucked into the bright colors and sale stickers going into my freshman year of college, but know this- that thing that is being advertised as a "must have" for your dorm room is a LIE.
#1: Your entire childhood bedroom
You can't fit it, plain and simple. Your semi spacious dorm room only looks spacious because there isn't random piles of crap everywhere yet. Your bedroom at home was a culmination of everything you've been hoarding for the past 18 years of your life and 18 years will not fit into a 8x8 cell with an extra person in it. As soon as you and your roommate move those boxes in it, it doesn't matter how many extra "space saving" devices and contraptions you have, it will not all fit.
#2: Printer
Save yourself time and friendships--don't bring a printer if you have access to a printer you already pay for through the University. It will break up friendships when you don't want your hall mates wasting your expensive printer ink that you suddenly now have to pay for. If you let one person use it, it becomes free game for everyone because you don't want to be known as stingy printer girl/boy on your hall. Also, the space saving factor comes into play here too.
#3: Books from home
You won't read them. Between your never ending textbooks and the cheaper and easier availability of e-books, you will have zero time or need for these paperback space wasters. Your backpack is heavy enough without carting around whatever novel you're reading! If you're a book worm like me, invest in an e-book reader of some kind and save yourself a lot of hassle and back pain.
#4: Extra furniture
I know that those folding chairs and cushion covered seats look enticing, but they are the last thing you really want to spend your money on. Not only are they cheaply maid, but they are expensive to buy and I can guarantee you that someone (either drunk or sober) will break it somehow. You're in college, sit on the floor, on those extra decorative pillows you wasted money on, or on the bed, don't sacrifice space trying to make everyone comfortable.
#5: Anything with your high school name on it
You're in college now, no one cares a single bit that you were varsity athlete or that you were the lead in your senior year musical. These are things you can bring up (sparingly) in conversation as you try to make connections with people, but these are not things to decorate your room with. College is a time to reinvent yourself and become your new adult version, not cling on to your past. Sure it was great, but you don't want to be the person who peaked in high school.
