Here’s the thing.

We pack - for a trip, for a vacation, for COLLEGE - and we think we do our best, but there’s always that one thing that’s missing. One thing we should’ve brought or bought over something else.

This isn’t going to be the complete college packing list of your dreams; but rather everything that I didn’t think about bringing with me to my dorm at the start of the year. All of these I ended up buying thorughout the school year because of one bad experience or another. Let me tell you, I can’t IMAGINE life without any of these objects now. Every day, these things are coming in clutch.

So, let’s dive right in. Here’s a list of items for the average college student, and that I wish I’d known were essential at the start of the year. Click on the button for a link to browse and buy.

Earbuds + Headphones

Personally, I need both for different circumstances. One is more accustomed for classes while the other is better accustomed for studying in the library. People don’t bother me when I’m wearing my headphones and they make me feel less anxious when I’m walking, but the earbuds cancel out more noise and I can wear them in the shower and at night without them hurting. Here’s the link to a quality pair of headphones on Amazon. Here’s a link to the earbuds; and for their quality, the price is a INSANELY great deal!

Pairing Accessories

Part of looking good and feeling good is to know how to build a sense of personal fashion. This is important to create while in college, for many reasons: a) your sense of style was likely changing anyway from what you were wearing in high school, b) building a style will make it easier to know how to dress for the career you’re pursuing, and c) creating a style that builds on few but simple fashion choices makes it easy to budget when shopping.

Take myself, for instance: in the winter, I wear over-sized sweaters almost every day. This makes it easy to buy and care for just one quality pair of leggings, because my personal touch is focused on the top, not the bottom. I own two pair of boots - one is geared more towards style while the other is for comfort. I have five different winter hats because I wanted different colors, so I got them cheap from a thrift store. On the opposite hand, I have one quality pair of gloves, because I chose comfort over style in that category.

Do you see what I mean? It also makes it easier to organize your smaller-than-you-think dorm closet.

There you have it! I hope these tips help and your adventure into the next stage of your life goes smoothly.