As a student that has been in both community college and the University of Central Florida, I've found several things in both environments that I would consider almost essential for me to make it through!
First college necessity - and I'm going to be basic for a minute, coffee. This is an obvious one but coffee helps me so much in college. I've also found that it's extremely expensive, so it's essential to find ways to make coffee at home that you enjoy. In my first year or two in college, I would spend at least $20-30 a week on coffee because I would get it from Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, or coffee shops on campus. I have saved a lot by buying the Starbucks iced coffee containers from Publix and using different recipes to make coffee at home. You can google at-home iced coffee recipes that will keep you going and save money.
The second college necessity is HEALTHY snacks. Emphasis on the healthy. You have probably heard the term "the freshman fifteen." And this is a very true statement. It is very common to gain excessive weight when beginning college because you have less money, less free time, and both of those things call for eating out and eating cheap, and commonly unhealthy food. In order to avoid this, something that is extremely helpful is to find healthy foods that are easy and that you enjoy. A very important thing is also snacks. With long days, breaks between classes, long nights at the library, it can be easy to snack unhealthy. Find snacks that are healthy, filling, and good that you can prepare often and enjoy. This will make it more likely to eat instead of other unhealthy foods.
The third college necessity is good study spots. This goes a long way. There is, of course, the obvious library and maybe a Starbucks, but I really encourage you to find some beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing places that help you to focus and stay working for a long period of time. But find what works best for you. Some people work well in a very plain and quiet environment and can be easily distracted in places that have any type of variation from that or excessive people. However, some people may go crazy in a place that is plain and empty and they need some sort of atmosphere in order to work consistently for hours at a time. Search around for good places and find a few so that you can change it up.
These three things can be extremely helpful in college and highly essential to figuring out especially at the beginning when you are having to set habits in place and figure out how you want to do things. Also, there are often resources available if you look on Facebook pages for ideas. On Pinterest, there are great snacks and fast recipes, coffee tricks, and more. Use your resources to your advantage and make a community. You got this!
