College catalogs can be super convincing and super conniving. Somehow, after flipping through one, you're convinced you need three mattress toppers, four mini storage units, and a small disco ball above your bed (I mean, all the Bed, Bath, and Beyond models have them, so you must need one too, right?).
These catalogs are fueled by the fact that most college students don't understand the concept of moving away from home. Moving away from home also means moving away from the comforts of home, like a printer available 24/7, a fridge full of food that you didn't have to buy yourself, and a bed bigger than a human-sized shoe box. But these comforts don't necessarily include that tiny disco ball. Here are some college essentials that are actually essential:
1. Quarters
Here's something that sucks: laundry most likely costs money now, and so does parking, if you have to deal with a car. Unless you've been hoarding quarters for the last five years, you probably do not have enough to do more than a month's worth of laundry. The best thing to do is to start collecting your change and to filter through it for the quarters, and to invest in a couple of rolls of quarters from the bank.Trust me on this, you will actually need them.
2. Popcorn and Peanut Butter
Can you actually afford to commit to that healthy eating plan you set up for yourself before coming to college? Probably not. Are you too lazy to commit to eating well every single day? Most likely. So for snacks (okay, maybe dinner) you should stock up on easy to make and easy to eat foods. Bonus points to these two because they go with everything, and are instant crowd pleasers. The smell of popcorn in the hall is enough to let everyone on your floor know that you're probably smarter than they are...or you forgot to get dinner before the dining hall closed.
3. Sticky Notes and Tabs
These may have been excessive in high school, but in college, little notepads are are definitely worth your investment. You do have to have somewhere to write down all your passwords so you don't have to call your parents every day just to access your email. Sticky notes also work great for gift tags, bookmarks, decor that happens to block the stain on your wall, basically anything. I mean, you could use them to mark up your rented textbooks too, but that's not quite as fun as leaving creepy notes for your roommates to find when you should be studying.
4. External Hard Drive
You're writing that last sentence of that 15 page research paper you've been working on for weeks. Then everything goes black.
The worst has happened: your computer has crashed. But THIS CAN BE FIXED. How, you ask? With this handy little thing called an external hard drive. If you back your computer up at least once a week, you won't be quite as traumatized when you "lose everything," because (shocker) you won't lose everything! You'll have your whole computer in a little box! You'll be grateful when you aren't crying, curled up in a ball on the floor, when it's 1 a.m. and you have a word count of 0.
5. Portable Phone Charger
For safety and for sanity, your phone should be charged pretty much all the time. You don't want a dead phone when you're supposed to meet someone at 5 p.m., and it's 5 now, but you're not sure where you're meeting (and also not really sure if it's really 5, because your phone is your clock). You don't want a dead phone when you're stranded in the city and need to call an uber to get home. You don't want a dead phone ever. This is your savior, treat it as such. The real challenge is keeping your charger charged.
Now that the school year is in full swing for pretty much everyone, there are bound to be moments where even your external hard drive and peanut butter can't save you. So, start crafting your own list of essentials! Who knows, maybe you WILL need that tiny disco ball above your bed? Whatever college tragedies bring you, I hope they can bring you the same amount of joy I feel whenever I buy a new stack of post-it-notes.
