3 Must-Haves for College

Three things that will improve your college experience are an umbrella, a planner, and a water bottle. 

Umbrella - High school is long gone and your needs have changed and you need to adjust to the changing time.  One of the initial reactions I hear from 1^st years is that it rains a lot in Charlottesville.  This isn’t completely wrong, but its pretty close.  It rains about the same here as any place in Virginia.  The difference is the rain affects you a lot more in college.  Let’s say it rains from 11 to 2 and is party cloudy at all other times.  In high school, all that happens is you don’t go outside for lunch or gym.  It barely affects your day, and so you might forget that it rained a week later.  However in college, if it rains from 11-2, it really affects you.  You’ll get stuck in the rain between classes or going to lunch.  You’ll remember that it rained because you got wet, your backpack is soaked, and you forgot to take your umbrella.  So after a few situations like this, you’ll conclude that it rains more in college.  Wrong, you just remember the rain easier because of how it affected you, when in fact it doesn’t rain more.  So get an umbrella so you don’t get soaked because walking around in a hoodie doesn’t cut it in college.  And on top of that get a big umbrella.  First, your backpack still gets wet with small umbrellas.  Secondly, you’ll have extra space under your umbrella for a friend or someone that you want to be friends with.

Planner - Buy a planner, use a planner.  There’s only so much time in the day, and there is so much fun to have.  But you need to be able to plan your schedule around others and maximize your fun, so you might as well get a schedule.  In high school, you’re schedule was much more daily.  Same classes everyday, same start and same finish.  Same practice time.  There wasn’t much that differentiated each specific day.  College is much more of a weekly schedule.  Class discussions, meetings, clubs, and practices happen on a weekly basis.  Even lunch is at a different time each day.  But all these events fall into a weekly schedule.  Some people relish being spontaneous.  I have no problem with that.  As long as there is nothing planned, be as spontaneous as you want.  But if you’re constantly spontaneous, you’ll find yourself sitting around waiting for something to happen, instead of doing planned fun events with friends.

Water bottle - Water bottles are really efficient and cost effective.  If you don’t drink tap water, change your mind, we’re in America and our tap water is clean and cheap.  If you already drink tap water, then a water bottle is perfect for you.  College students don’t drink enough water to begin with.  This happens for several reasons, but mainly because we’re lazy and don’t have the resources.  If the water fountain is down the hall, you’re not walking out there just for a sip, no way.  It’s too much work, and you're clearly in the middle of Call of Duty.  If you have a water bottle, you can be lazy and still hydrated.  Who’s the noob now?  Another reason for dehydration in college is the lack of cups.  1^st years don’t have clean cups lying around like you did at home and hate washing cups, so they either can’t find a cup or would rather not wash the cup later, so they'd rather go thirsty than have to wash a cup.  But, water bottles really don’t even need to be washed. And another thing, don’t buy cases of water.  That’s not sustainable and takes up too much room, when a water bottle serves all those functions.

Get an umbrella, a planner, and a water bottle and you'll be ready for rainy days, busy days, and lazy days.