The year is steadily coming to an end. Just as the weather warms back up, students start loading boxes into their designated cars. Lots and lots and lots of boxes. And by boxes, I don't mean the dainty ones that fit maybe a few pieces of clothing, I mean BOXES. Boxes large enough to move a whole family to another country or smuggle a baby elephant out of a zoo. Boxes that are overfilled and bursting at their edges, attempting to keep all the useless things its owners decided to bring to college.
I reminisce back to August and I remember all the YouTube videos and blogs that told me the things I needed for college. They listed everything from bedding to bedside tables and little bedside buddies. I still have the notebook I used to write down all the necessities I should pack to start my new life. I came in a car full of aspirations and practically my whole life. But if I learned anything during my last week on campus, it's that I really did not need everything I brought. In fact, I did not need MOST things I packed. But alas, no one told me about the things I SHOULDN'T pack for college. I'm doing all you high school seniors a favor. These are the six things you should definitely avoid packing or buying for college. My friends and I learned this the hard way.
1. All of your clothes
I repeat with utmost urgency. DO NOT PACK ALL OF YOUR CLOTHES. In fact, avoid packing most of your clothes. A lot of people forget that once we get to college, we come back home almost every two months. We come in September and then leave again for Thanksgiving. If you don't go home for Thanksgiving, you'll go home for winter break. There really is no reason to have your winter coats and duck boots in your closet when it is 90 degrees outside and you have a dorm room the size of a walk in closet. Leave most things at home (save yourself the extra bag surcharge at the airport too) and just swap out when you go back home. Every season it'll feel like you have a brand new wardrobe! And you won't have to carry home 90 pounds of clothes back home during the summer (ahem, Mario).
2. Extra pillows
Having 10 pillows on your bed sounds like an amazing princess dream. It feels like you're surrounded by massive marshmallows as you lie down and forget all your midterms and tests. They're soft. They're fluffy. They're a nightmare to pack. I'm not telling you that you can't have pillows at all. Sure, go ahead and buy one or two. Even three if you're feeling brave enough. But be warned, when the end of spring semester comes, pillows become your worst enemy. They take up so much space in boxes and even vacuum bags can only do so much. Leave the mountain of pillows at home or else a pillow monster will haunt you in college.
3. Furniture
College dorms tend to come with a closet big enough to maybe fit a few jackets and coats. The drawers are able to fit just about nothing. But this does not mean that you need four IKEA chairs and a wardrobe. They're a huge hassle at the end of the year to remove (mostly because they don't even fit through the door). Maybe next time, the furniture should be foldable or you know... not massive. (#Matt)4. Food
This is a personal problem of mine. I have a tendency to buy food BEFORE moving houses. This leads to boxes of food that I could have bought once we moved into the new dorm. But alas, I do this all the time and have to carry 50 pounds of ramen and instant rice up the stairs into my dorm room. Not fun. Don't try this at home.
5. Stationery
They're cute, they're small, they're irresistible. When you buy that cute bunny lead pencil or that chic black notebook, you think it's okay because they don't take up space. Right? WRONG. Stationery takes up a surprisingly amount of space since it piles up without you even noticing. Take heed, you can buy all the stationery you want when you get on campus. Not that you should because they're such a pain to pack back up.
6. All your favorite books
More specifically, don't bring all seven books of "Harry Potter." I know there are some books that you feel physically attached to but, they're really a hassle once they're on your shelf. At the beginning of the year, I had books I wanted to read lined up on my shelf. They were so pretty and so new. I couldn't wait to get to read them. But something no one told me about college was that I didn't have TIME to read these books.
They merely gathered dust and I eventually had to pack them back into a bag because they were taking up too much space. I know it's heartwrenching to let go of your babies but please, for the sake of your back and your boxes, don't take all your books to college.
