Here's What You Need For College

This is assuming if you're not staying at home, of course

Moving away from home to go to college is a pretty traumatic experience. I mean, you don't have the comfort of being with your family should something go wrong, you won't have the regular home-cooked meals, and you're not at home!

This page is for all of you that are at least 200 miles away from your family; staying in the same city doesn't cut, folks, you can always go home if you want to.
I must say that I was pretty prepared when I moved away from home. I dunno, I just guess that I really knew what I needed. In fact, I planned way ahead of time before I moved so that I'd have everything I needed. That is what you should do. You can't just half-ass the moving process, folks, otherwise you'll end up leaving something very important at home, like your clothes! I'll make a little checklist so that you can see how you measure up to my planning. If you happen to have something that I don't have listed, well, tell me about it and I'll give you a cookie. Seriously, I probably didn't need it if I didn't list it. This is a list for people who are moving into dorms or apartments, not houses, okay? So you'll see no lawn mowers here.

Noriel's list of must-haves:

• Clothes. Come on everyone, I at least had to list it. Depending on what part of the year you're moving, you can pack more or less than you need. If car or truck space is not a problem, then bring all of your stuff.

• Clothes Hamper. You need someplace to stash you dirty laundry, man. If anything else, the hamper becomes a quick and handy room-cleaning aid; Clean or not, if you're in a crunch, put all your clothes in here-- sort them out later.

• Shelves. Chances are that the place you're moving into will not have adequate storage space. Believe me, I have as many, if not more, clothes than most girls. Those closets need all the help that they can get! I recommend Yaffa Blocks myself, because they're so cool and they're MODULAR!

• Dresser and Nightstands. If your new home doesn't have these, then it's up to you to bring them. You can probably do without these; I know I did, but you might need them if you want your new room to feel like a real room.

• Full-length Mirror. Let's face it, the bathroom one will only tell you how good you look from the waist up, unless you decide to do a hand stand. How will you know that you have a huge hole on the back of your jeans, anyway?

• Hangers. What'll you do, make a clean pile and a dirty pile? Actually, I've seen people do this, and it's not too pretty.

• Bed Sheets and Comforters. You don't plan on having a waffle-pattern on your face when you wake up, do you? Of course not, so get yourself some of these! The comforter is for when it get cold, and plus, if you really need to make your bed in a hurry, just toss it over your bed; it will hide the crumpled sheets! Oh yeah, make sure that you bring at least a couple of these, okay? I don't want to see you having to go through just one sheet your whole college life, alright?

• Bed. Hey, I was assuming that you had already had this furninshed, but there are a lot of us that aren't moving into furnished apartment, you know. Yeah, I also don't want you getting a cookie. :P

• Decorations. You do want this place to look like you live here, don't you? Well cover up those damn blank walls and put some curtains up, because your neighbors are gettin tired of seeing you naked all the time!

• Pillows. I can't leave anything to chance, can I? Unless you hate comfort, bring these, please.

• Birth Control. Goes with the bed....Just in case you decide not to sleep by yourself. You wouldn't want to cut your college life (or whole life) short would you? I don't think they'll give you a college loan for child support.

• Alarm Clock. What, do you have a really good biological clock or something? You're gonna need this little darling if you were dumb enough to sign up for 8:00 AM classes. So what if you had to get up earlier for High School, the deck's stacked against you if you think you'll wake up every morning.

• Toiletries. Shampoo, soap, toothbrush, shaving cream, razors, toothpaste, etc. You need these. There's no excuse for you not to have them. Well, the only viable excuse would be that you never intended on having any friends. Don't even tell me that I need to name more examples.

• Medicine. Your immune system may be a few million years old, but it's not that good. Unless you're a really good faith healer, or have access to one, you're gonna need something to clear up\ that head cold.

• Towels. Unless you plan to airdry by running to class, these come highly recommended. You can never have enough towels, either. Just make sure that you have at least seven, no less. Doubling up just gets really gross. I know...

• Shower Curtain. Don't laugh, one of my ex-roomates forgot to bring one of these, and he had a hell of a time mopping the floor because he thought he could keep the shower under control.

• Cleaning Products. Your basic run-of-the-mill stuff; Lysol, Pine-sol, Comet, Windex, toilet toothbrush, scouring pad, dishwashing detergent, Paper towels, toilet paper, you get the idea. If you forget these, your life will be hell, and so will your bathroom, kitchen, apartment.

• Food and Drink. Oh yeah, what'll you do, fast? I'll have a whole 'nother list just for this, but for now, you're on your own. And no, you don't get a cookie.

• Dishes. Oh you're such an animal...get these, alright? Maybe that way you can join the rest of us humans. Food doesn't taste too good when you have to pick carpet fibers from your teeth.

• Eating Utensils. So you're finally eating off of dishes, huh? maybe next time you can use these so that you can't give away what you had for dinner everytime you shake hands with someone.

• Glasses. Oh wow, so know you can eat like the rest of us, but do you always have to get up and drink from the faucet whenever you're thirsty? Try using a glass; it'll work, trust me.

• Napkins. You can eat and drink, but what's with the stains on your sleeves?

• Microwave and Toaster Oven. The food won't cook itself, you know. Get these and I guarantee heaven. What, you didn't know that angels get inside the microwave and cook your food for you? Next time pray in front of one while you're cooking and maybe you won't burn your meal.

• Toaster. Why does this thing make that scream whenever you stick a knife in it? I swear this thing remembers you whenever you do this. Your toast will be forever burnt from now on...

• Kitchen Supplies. This is stuff that you need in your kitchen like, Saran wrap, aluminum foil, paper towels, sponges, place mats, oven mitts, paper cups, yadda, yadda, yadda...

• Rice Cooker. If I didn't put this I'd owe like a billion people a free cookie! We orientals can't stand minute rice, no matter how unsticky Uncle Ben's makes it. Pots don't just cut it either.

• Pots, Pans, and Cooking Sheets. No, you can't cook everything in the microwave, so you might as well get these. Yeah, waiting for food to heat up is a bitch, but you'll never win over any future mates with your gourmet nuke-food.

• Cooking Utensils. This is for you all who don't think that knives, cleavers, skewers, cutting boards, tongs, etc, don't belong in "Kitchen Supplies." So there, no cookie for you, either.

• Barbecue Grill and Related Paraphanelia. We all like cooking over fire and getting carcinogens, don't we? Yes, charcoal and starter are included in this category.

• Trash Can and Bags. You've got garbage, and you'll probably get evicted if you just leave it lying around your place. Just put it all in one place and forget about it; If you leave it lon enough, it'll take itself to the dumpster because it can't stand living in your filthy apartment. See Hamper for cleaning ideas.

• Pesticides. You'll eventually get visitors from nature, just make sure that they check out for good. Having ants bite you all over your body while you sleep, is a horrible experience, I know.

• Television. Well, you could get by without one, but you'll really struggle. My roomate and I are getting by with only one clear channel and about twenty headache-causing snow stations. Six of which happen to be spanish. Oh we are in hell....

• TV Stand. Because it sucks having to watch TV lying down on the ground all the time. Hell, I don't even have one of these; I just use an Igloo cooler.

• VCR. What, did you think you could just reminisce about every show you ever saw? Get one of these, and no one will doubt you when you tell them that you saw a dog flying an airplane on "Real-TV."

• Videos. Without these, a VCR is useless. Well, maybe you can use it as a clock, but I wouldn't recommend it. Just buy or rent some damn tapes and satisfy me, okay?

• Camera. I'm pretty sure that you want to remember this place, don't you? Or maybe, you'll want your friends to remind you of what you did when you had a little too much to drink. Evidence is very important.

• Stereo System. It doesn't have to be much, but at least have some sort of tape-player/cd-player/radio combo unit. Hell, it could be a microcassette-recorder, a Fisher-Price CD player, and one of those free am/fm radios from your credit card company. If you have records, then kudos to you for not buying into the CD hype. Vinyl's on it's way back folks; at least for the serious music lover.

• Clock. Did you really think that you could keep track of the time on the VCR and microwave? Get real, get a clock, and make your place look like a grown-up's. Who knows, you might even make it to class.

• Any Form of Entertainment. This is broad, but it's an important category. This includes, but is not limited to, games (board, card, video, mind, role-playing), hobbies, scanning radios (this is a favorite of mine), anything else that keeps you busy that isn't schoolwork. There, no cookie for you!

• Couch. This can take the place of a bed, and usually does. The bed's usually too messy to sleep on, and you don't want to get up while you're nodding off to the late-night movie.

• Recliner. Only if you're a bad-ass, people, only if you're a bad-ass. You have to be, 'cause everyone but you will be sitting in it. Heh, and you thought you were so cool...

• Tables. At least these'll give you some extra place to pile stuff on. Just make sure you remember that you have a load of dirty dishes underneath your school books. Well, there just might be chunks of food under there if you forgot about the dishes.

• Reading Material. You can't watch tv all the time, especially when you're on the can. Well, if you do watch tv on the can, you're on your way to becoming a human slug. At least flush every time a comercial comes on, okay?

• Vacuum. You'll need something to suck up all the crumbs and left-over food from the carpet. Watch-- can you believe that's the original color? Scary, isn't it?

• Broom and Dustpan. Why, because stuff sticking to your bare feet sucks. Clean floors are what separates indoors from outdoors. Just do it so that plants don't start taking root on your linoleum.

• Mop. Make the floor shine. Just don't use it on the carpet. That doesn't shine. Trust me.

• Lamps. You do want to see all that mess you've made, don't you? Lamps add ambience to a place. We all want a little cozy chaos.

• Chairs. Only because we all can't stand up or sit down on the floor all the time. Unless you've bought nothing but knee-high furniture, you need chairs because your kneeling will cause calouses.

• Desk. You need something to study on, because the bed will just put your butt to sleep, and the TV will just give you an automatic "F." Put this together with a lamp and chair and you have a pretty cool study area. Now all you need is a...

• Computer. It's the informations age, people, and you need to get one of these. The Etch-a-Sketch won't cut it, and your professors won't take anything handwritten. Make sure you have a printer as well.

• School Supplies. I guess you're here for a reason; you might as well arm yourself with your weapons of war. By the way, crayons will not be used that much. Wanna list, I'll give you one -- later.

• Money. How will you ever get anything? Without this, you'll probably not have much fun in college, and you'll probably be stealing everything you can get your hands on. Remember what I said about cutting your life short?

• Transportation. Look, it doesn't have to be pretty; just make sure it'll get you to where you need to be. Hell, it doesn't even need to be yours; an understanding roomate or friend will do just fine. Just make sure that you pay for gas. Otherwise, you'll be walking.

• Map of Your New City. You've got transportation? Big deal, if you get lost all the time. Now where did I live, again?

• Plants. Just make sure they're not illegal, cause again, you'll be cutting your life short. Plants clean the air, and if your place is a mess, you need all the help you can get. Remember, plants are living so you need to water them or they will die! You want clean air? That's the price you have to pay.

• Hand Tools and Tool Box. Come on, you need to do some of your own work! Maintenance doesn't come all the time, you know!

• A/C Filters. Chances are your landlord won't be replacing these for you, so you need to make sure you do it, otherwise, you'll be introducing yourself to a good case of Legionairre's Disease, or any other good upper-respiratory illness.

• Telephone and Answering Machine. You need to be able to talk with your friends, and this is the best way. If you have an answering machine, you can screen out the calls of people you hate, or people you owe money to.

• Address Book. How will you keep all of those numbers organized? No, Post-It notes don't work all the time, you usually have them stuck to your back when you sleep on the couch.

• Luggage. You do plan on visiting home, right? What do you plan to do, use trash bags? Get good luggage, cause it'll last you forever.

There, now you have a pretty decent list to follow. If there are any omissions that you notice, please e-mail me. Be reasonable, if it falls into one of the categories listed above, then don't try to get a free cookie. I tried to list stuff that EVERYONE needs, not just some strange item that only you can't live without.

© 1997 nacorda@lonestar.utsa.edu

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