I'm sure there are many a student who just began their first semester of college. College is an adjustment in itself because you have to learn to be on your own. However, there are some problems that occur where our young, clever minds need a solution on the spot. A lot can happen in only your first semester of college, so without farther ado, here are five situations that required a little ingenuity.
1. Ankle braces can have more than one purpose
Everyone gets concerned about "freshman 15." It can be an actual threat to beach bodies everywhere. So we exercise here and there and then say a prayer that we can maintain an acceptable body image. However, I'm sure that I'm not alone when I say that I'm still fairly new to working out on my own. I've always depended on my sports and activities to keep me in shape. Therefore, when I started running, I soon discovered that holding my phone was just a hassle, putting it in my sports bra would just get sweat inside my case, and putting it in my leggings would just mean that it would eventually fall through my leg. Thankfully, shortly after, I found that a simple ankle brace that I had could also serve double duty on my elbow and hold my phone while running.
2. Succulents can be difficult
The ideal dorm plant is a cactus or a succulent because they're so low maintenance. My first one was given to me as a graduation present and I named it Calvin. Fairly early in the semester, Calvin got knocked over and out came dirt (as well as he, himself) and a few smaller succulents that were keeping him company. As a result, I frantically tried to replant him and, to my dismay, discovered that I did not have enough dirt. I ordered my mother to pull into the nearest Lowe's, where I purchased another small succulent and brutally murdered it in cold blood. I ripped the succulent out of its pot for the dirt and finished patching up my beloved Calvin and company.
3. Blanket forts really help you make friends
If you're anything like me, you have some trouble meeting people. If you're like me, you are also 18 going on 50. About a month into the semester, I spent a much-needed night in my best friend's dorm and somehow, we got on the topic of how awesome it would be to build a blanket fort. So that is exactly what we did. In an area that might have been five feet in length, we used command hooks to hang blankets from the ceiling and had 13 people sitting shoulder to shoulder.
4. Toilet paper can, in fact, be fashioned into a hair tie
Not every dorm room has a bathroom attached to it. Most, in fact, share communal bathrooms. Mine is no different. When you're new to college and new to communal bathrooms, there's no one to remind you what you should take to the bathroom and no going back to get something from your room that you forgot. You just don't think to grab certain things when you're running out your door in the mornings to grab a sink. You grab your towel, toothbrush, toothpaste, face wash, etc., but you don't think about (at least, I don't) the simple things like how to keep your hair out of your face when you're washing it. In this particular situation, I learned that if you're careful enough, you can tie toilet paper just tight enough so that it holds your hair back and out of your face well enough so that you may wash it.
5. Forks do an OK job as a hairbrush
Thank good ole' Princess Ariel for almost inventing the technique that made everyone just laugh at her. Of course, this process takes longer than with a hairbrush (and longer hair would be harder to brush than shorter hair), but nonetheless, it is effective. And for the week that I forgot my hairbrush back at home, I learned how to style my hair with a plastic fork.
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