Essential Dorm Items Every College Freshman Needs

Going to college is a big, important, step in life. It comes with many struggles to navigate and surprising amount of things to deal with on the daily. From surviving on your own without your parents, having to figure out ‘adulting,’ to dealing with the emotional immaturity of people from your age group, here’s a guide that will help you navigate the college experience.

Dorm Essentials

If you choose to move into a dorm there are certain things most people aren’t going to tell you that you need or things that you don’t necessarily think you need. This list includes items you’ve heard you need from countless family friends as well as things that college students actually use on the daily.

• Cleaning supplies: Vacuum, wet wipes or alcohol spray will come in handy. Your dorm is going to get dirty and dusty. Keeping your space clean will ensure you actually relax in the space you live in, which will boost productivity.
• Shower shoes and shower caddy: If you happen to live in a dorm with a communal bathroom, shower shoes are going to come in clutch. Those shower spaces are hard to clean and since they are being used by so many people, you wanna keep your feet clean by wearing shoes. A shower caddy will be useful in any living situation since you don’t want to run out of shower space with everyone’s shower essentials littering the limited shower shelf space.
• Mini fridge, microwave, and water filter: As a college student, you are going to go out, you’re gonna get left overs, and you will need a space to keep them. You might not want to spend that extra money on a fridge, but believe me, it’s going to save you. Same with the microwave and water filter. You don’t want to be eating cold food and drinking dirty water because that’ll get you sick.
• Frat shoes: Now you might say, “I’ll never go to a frat party,” and to that I say, things change and they’re loved campus wide for providing students a space to relax, unwind, and dance at the end of a long academic week. Frat shoes should be old beat up shoes you don’t 100% need anymore because frat houses always have sticky floors and your nice white shoes should not be ruined.
• Command hooks and strips: You obviously can’t put holes in the walls but what you can do, is use adhesive on walls. These two essentials are perfect for adding decoration to your living space.
• Mattress topper: The mattresses that come with your dorm are going to be hard and uncomfortable and a mattress topper is something you won’t be able to live without. unless you love sleeping on hard surfaces.
• Long phone charger: After a long day of learning and socializing your phone battery is going to be on its last legs, and will obviously need to be charged. The biggest issue? The regular phone charger you already have won’t be able to reach the top bunk where you sleep and climbing out of bed to turn off an alarm is not a comforting thought. Instead, just have your phone in bed with you so its easier to press the snooze button in the morning and doom scroll night.
• Fan: Dorm buildings are really give or take. Sometimes they could be all you have ever wished for, other times, they will be your nightmare. An issue a lot of students run into is having broken or even missing air conditioning. A tiny dorm fan will save you during the hot months of the year and you’ll be thankful you got one.
• Laundry bag: It goes without saying that now that you’re not living with your parents, laundry is going to fall on your shoulders– and those laundry baskets get heavy fast and are hard to carry. Invest in a laundry bag to help you carry your dirty clothes to the nearest laundry room.
• First aid kit: You have one in your car and your junk drawer at home, so have one in college. You truly never know when someone is going to need a bandaid, burn cream, or cotton swabs.
• Tool kit: you never know when you’re going to need a hammer to lower those metallic high rise beds or when your friend needs a prop for their short film. Whatever the occasion
• Blue light glasses: You are going to be spending a lot of time behind your laptop, a good bit of it at night instead of sleeping. Save your eyes the strain and get glasses to protect the long term health of one of your most useful organs.

Freshman Friend Group Drama

Every freshman friend group goes through a ‘canon event’ in which they become friends with as many people as possible, creating the ‘mega friend group’. There are cliques within the friend group and although you know everyone in the friend group, you aren’t truly friends with all the people. There are those whom you are going to dislike for no reason, never truly understanding why everyone else is so friendly towards them. Fast forward a few weeks or months and there is going to be some sort of fight which causes the friend group to split for good.

To avoid this, forge friendships based on mutual understanding and on quality instead of quantity. I know it may be hard, you may think you need as many friends as possible in this new environment but when it comes down to it– a few great apples are far more worthy than a bushel of rotten ones.

The drama can range from very minor and inconvenient to major and life altering. It could be over someone sleeping in another person’s bed to having false allegations thrown out. Keep your head up and talk both parties to find out the real issue. Don’t believe people straight on.

Academic Success

People always say to go to office hours, but you should seriously listen to them. Creating a relationship with your professors is going to be fundamental for your success. If they know your name and face, they will be able to sympathize with you over not being able to make it to class or turning in your work because of some sort of emergency. Furthermore, having a good relationship will lend them to recommend you for internships and other career furthering opportunities.

While in class, remember to participate, the more often you participate the more your professor will enjoy having you in class. If possible, and if they are okay with it, chat with your professors after class. That is, unless they have somewhere important to be.

Be sure to talk with your classmates outside the classroom because they are going to be the ones to fill you in if you miss or skip class for whatever reason. Having a study buddy will be extremely useful when your in exam season. Plus, who knows where that friendship will get you. Maybe they are going to be your new best friend or future roommate.

Final notes:

Remember, these are going to the be the most fun, freeing, explorative years of your life. Join clubs, meet as many people as you can, and do things that you’ve never done before. Don’t be afraid of taking chances and getting out of your comfort zone but remember to prioritize your school work above anything else.