You know, it is kind of funny. As an incoming freshmen, I thought I was 100 percent prepared for college. I had taken every precautionary step I could think of in order to not miss a thing. I started collecting those "what to pack" checklists from Target my junior year in high school. By time graduation rolled around I had read just about every article on Pinterest that focused on what essential items I shouldn't forget to pack or what other freshmen had wished they had known going into college. I started packing in June. And yet, after move-in day was over and the semester had begun, I realized that I had still managed to forget a few things. So here is a list of things this now-second year college student forgot when she went off to college last year.
Rain Gear
For some reason, when I first went down to campus I hadn't anticipated how much rain North-Western Iowa could get. Maybe this is because I went to high school where everything was in one building, or maybe it was because I was used to school starting after Labor Day, when the rainy season was pretty much over. As a result, I spent many a class with soggy socks and rain-streaked glasses. This can also relate to my second point:
Other Weather Appropriate Attire
As I mentioned in the previous point, I go to school in North-Western Iowa. Now it isn't like I'm not used to Midwestern weather (my hometown is only a few hours away from campus), yet I still wasn't prepared for how quickly the weather changes when I didn't have the convenience of my "winter clothes" being easily accessible. As a result, I had the lovely new experiences of trying to manually unlock my car with frozen fingers because I didn't have gloves when the first frost hit, and realizing during our first snowfall that the closest things I had to a pair of snowshoes on campus were my Crocs. I'm not necessarily saying that you need to pack your mittens and winter coat for move in day, but you should stay aware of the weather in your area and pack accordingly during visits home.
Dish Soap
This wasn't a huge problem for me at first, because I had been gifted a pile of disposable plates and bowls. However, once I had gone through that supply, I had hit a problem. Have you ever tried to clean week-old crusty ramen (don't judge) off a bowl with hand soap? I hope you never have to.
A Cable for Cable
My school offers free cable for all on-campus residents, which is great. As someone who grew up with limit television options, I was excited to have access to HGTV and the Food Network whenever I liked. Although my roommate and I had agreed on who was bringing the tv and dvd player (Thanks Rach!) we neglected to decided who was bringing the cable hookup. Which led to neither of us packing it. At the time we shrugged it off, figuring that between her Netflix and my movie collection we would be fine. Low and behold come fall break, we both ended up coming back to campus with cables!
