While money and gift cards are always appreciated and accepted, sometimes you just want to give something a little extra. Here is a list to get you started for the hard-to-shop-for college graduate in your life:
A Job
Have you ever heard of the phrase “give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” While money is good for now, I can almost guarantee you it will go toward paying off our student debt or paying our mounting bills. A job would provide us with the financial stability that all college graduates long for. You can get extra bonus points if the job is something we love to do, and we would be excited to go to work every day.
An end to the continual rounds of questions about the future
Yes, we do love talking with all of our family and friends, but sometimes we feel like we’re a broken record player with answering the endless questions about what we plan on doing with our degree, why we don’t have a significant other, when we’re planning on settling down with our significant other or when we’re planning on moving out of our parent’s house. Please, take pity on us and ask us something else. If not, we may have to resort to hanging a frequently asked question and answer sheet around our necks.
A brand new car
Hey, we can dream, right?
Sleep and some quality alone time
I think this one is pretty self-explanatory here. Please leave us alone to hole up in our room. We will be eternally grateful to try to catch up on the countless hours of sleep we lost over the last four, or five, years.
An opportunity to treat ourselves
Most college students I know don’t have our pockets and wallets stuffed with dollar bills, and what little money we do have goes toward paying tuition or other school related fees. While that does teach us how to budget, it doesn’t leave us a lot of room to spend it on frivolous things, like a day at the spa or a weekend away. Figure out what we love to do, but we haven’t done it in a while, and give it to us.
An opportunity to travel
The majority of students don’t get a lot of chances to travel while we’re in school, unless we travel abroad for a semester. You would be giving us an invaluable gift because the experience will expose us to a new culture and widen our point of view. Who doesn’t love a well-rounded individual?
A Netflix account
Because you’re sick of seeing our favorite shows pop up on your queue, am I right? Plus, it’s only $8 a month.
A practical gift
I know getting cooking utensils or tools doesn’t seem like the ideal Christmas gifts you always wanted, but I’m sure we’ll be thanking Santa when those gifts help us get ourselves out of a jam on our own, which leads me to my next suggestion…
Survival skills
Last time I checked, we are hardly ever prepared for the true difficulties of the “real world,” like cooking, balancing a checkbook, cleaning or fixing a car. But man, am I sure glad I learned trigonometry in high school or the four pillars of philosophy in college. If you really want to give us a little help, sign us up for a cooking class or teach ushow to change our oil, if you know how to.
Wine. Lots and lots of wine. Some fancy glasses couldn't hurt either
Now we’re able to properly enjoy it without having to use it to drown out the impending doom of our upcoming assignments. We are able to sit back in an easy chair and casually sip it while we’re curled up under a blanket, instead of having to always keep track of it at the fraternity house or local apartment.
Also, lots of coffee or cool coffee related gadgets
We can never have too many K-cups for our Keurig, and because we all need something to get us through the morning after a night of enjoying our wine. Our bodies’ ability to process that kind of fun isn’t the same as it was a few years, or months, ago.
Professional additions to their wardrobe
A nice blazer, a string of pearls, tie, a set of cuff links. The options are endless. I can guarantee you we will appreciate the new briefcase or purse just as much as a pair of socks, even if the washer always eats one sock out of every pair. A nice set of luggage for our travel excursions or future business trips never hurt either.
Something sentimental from their collegiate career
This is probably one of my favorite things on my list, because I’m always a sap for thoughtful gifts. This one really depends on our interests, but some fail-safe ideas are a t-shirt quilt made out of all of our favorite college shirts (just make sure we don’t plan on wearing them anymore!), a customized photo frame or a hand-painted plaque with our favorite quote on it. You can really let your imagination go wild with this one!
Happy gifting, my friends!
