First Year of College Tips and Lists

Hello, guys!

This is my nth time making a blog during my short lifetime but this is a blog I’m at least mentally hoping to keep up during my college/university years (and maybe even further on!).

As this is my first post, I’m going to be introducing myself a little, too. My name is Maria and I’m going to be a starting college in the fall, which I’m very excited about. I’m quite young and not a native English speaker, but I’m going to try my best to make the least mistakes possible.

On to the actual deal now. I’m guessing there’s thousands of people (maybe even millions) that are just as eager, scared and overall confused regarding what to spend money on for their first year. I’ve been told so many times about how university is so much different from high school in pretty much everything, from classes, ways to study to people, attitude and seriousness.
In high school, your teachers are ON FREAKING TOP OF YOU SO YOU DO YOUR HOMEWORK. At least, that’s my experience and I hated it. I’m very capable of being responsible all by myself and handing in my assignment when it’s due.

Therefore, let’s keep our minds, eyes and ears open. Check your university’s page and your email DIALY because there may be some change of plans and you should be up to date.

Now, in Spain, you have five classes per semester in your own field. But fix this to your own schedule and subjects. Mine is Computer Science, so let’s go with that example. I have five classes regarding Computers, most of them including algebra or regarding mathematics.

Now that we are up to date with everything and have an overall look into our degree, we need a supplies list.

The general side to this list:

• A planner.

Why is this in bold, you’d think? Well, planners are so, so important. I’ve never used one like the ones I’ve seen on Pinterest before, but believe me when I say you’ll need this as soon as you grasp the concept. I’m going to be earning money for a Kate Spade planner. I’ve seen others going around that also look amazing, but I can’t spend $50 or $70 on a planner when I have to buy all of the list. There’s amazing things of hers’ on the site that you should check out and maybe buy if you can afford.

• Washi tape, sticky notes and flags, colorful stickers.
• Colorful pens/markers, highlighters.
• Mechanical pencils/no. 2 pencils.
• Ballpoint pens for note-taking. (I’ll most definitely be re-writing notes with the other colorful pens. Great study work!)
• Notepads/notebooks.
• Books (check for used ones if you can’t afford new ones!).
• Paper clips – every single kind there is!, tape, staples.
• White/notebook paper.
• Scissors, stapler.
• Printer, ink cartridges.
• Manila folders (there’s some Kate Spade ones that are sooo pretty!).
• 2/3/4 binder, hole-puncher.

As my subjects lean very into Science, I’m going to possibly need a graphic calculator, too. You might want to get a scientific one if any of your classes have simple mathematics, even if your degree isn’t maths-related.

I’m going to be living with my parents, as a bus stops close-by and travels all the way to my university every morning, afternoon, evening and night (depending on the students’ schedule – some have to go in the afternoon). But I know about dorms, so you might want to check everything your university will let you have there (microwave, coffee-machine…) so you can jot down a list for different things: kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, desk and laundry. The desk part we’ve got almost covered up on the previous list.

Kitchen: again, check for what you’re allowed to take: mini-fridge, microwave, coffee-machine… You’ll anyway have to have some dry food or food that won’t go to waste in two days after arriving there as well as some zip lock transparent bags. Of course you’ll need glasses at least, maybe a few dishes and cutlery. Check if you can take a water purifier pitcher as well!

Bathroom: packing a bag of toiletries wouldn’t hurt at all. In it, you can store your beauty essentials (creams, basic makeup, nail polish, gel, shampoo, conditioner…), a pair or two of flip-flops in case you have common bathrooms, two or three towels (big and small), hairdryer, straighteners/curl wand…

Bedroom: bedsheets, a couple blankets, a beanbag, a good-sized mirror, pretty pillows and cushions, a bed-side lamp, flowers… For your wardrobe, you’ll definitely want to pack lightly thanks to the rest of stuff that’s already too much for you to handle. I’d recommend five or six complete outfits, i.e. a black long-sleeved basic shirt, a flowy, knee-length black and white stped skirt, tights and cute flats. That’d be one outfit. Make them simple so you can combine all of them and they definitely have to be as comfortable for you as possible; leggings and a hoodie is good for me most of the time.

Desk: we’ve already set the essentials up on our list, so this is just a filler for dorm rooms. You would want to take your laptop, tablet, phone with you with the respective cases and accessories (mouse, keyboard for some tablets, chargers and headphones). I’d suggest for you to have a small hand sanitizer with you at all times. You never know when you’ll need it.

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We’re done with the listing, all there’s left to do is gather some motivation and keep ourselves calm until the day comes. I’ll keep on posting about college tips and tricks as I go along hunting through Pinterest, Tumblr and other bloggers. Any mention to Kate Spade is in no way promotion, it’s just me loving her chic and girly products.

Comment if you have anything you’d like to add to the lists or you’ve got some tips and tricks to share! I’d love to have someone with experience also commenting about what the first year of college is like.