What to Pack When Leaving For College

When I first left for college, I had an entire minivan packed to the brim with stuff that I didn't even know I had. It was to the point where the only people who could actually fit into the minivan were my father and I. My younger brother and my mother were forced to catch a flight a couple of days later in order to meet up with me at my new home away from home. Looking back, if I had to do it all over again, a) I would've probably stayed closer to home and b) I definitely wouldn't have packed quite as much stuff.

It is common for most people who have either never been away from home before or who are going away to college to bring a ton of stuff because they don't want to be caught away from home without things that they feel they'll need in order to survive. For me, the main staples of that train of thinking included a good, sturdy brush and my running shoes. The rest was hit or miss. Realize that when you are packing to go away to college for the first time that you don't need to, nor should you try to bring a ton of stuff. There are plenty of college advisers and people who will be on hand to receive you when you get to college and who will be more than happy to loan you something that is already available for free or who will sort of 'hold your hand' until you become more acclimated to living on your own.

One of the main things that you will want to take care of prior to doing any sort of packing is contacting your roommate (if applicable) to find out what he or she is or is not bringing with them to the dorm room. After you've determined what it is each of you is bringing, it is then up to either one of you to decide who is allowed to use certain items. For example, when I first went away to college, my roommate didn't have a computer and asked if she would be able to use mine. My computer was brand new, and I had files on there that I wished to keep private. I politely told her that I preferred it if she would use one of the computers in the computer lab at our dorm room instead. I was glad that I resolved this before I arrived because I later found out that she had broken someone else's computer by trying to download some illegal software.

When packing, remember to pack as lightly but as practically as possible. If you know that you're planning on going home whenever the next break is, use that as an opportunity to swap out stuff.

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