Well, I leave for college tomorrow morning. I am sooooooo nervous. So I thought I would ask a somewhat pointless question to ease my nerves. What was the most important/useful thing you took to college with you and why? 
tipi
Money. Lots of it. The more the better. Also, a stereo with headphones (especially if you’ll be living in the dorm).
Phone card. So you can call for more money.
I can tell you what was utterly useless … all my high school notes! Now if that doesn’t scare you I don’t know what will.
Another useless thing. My 8-bit atari 128XE.
I tell you what though. Seriously, you are in for the time of your life! I miss be at university. I was so great to have all that potential ahead of me (not that I wasted it or regret anything). But it was so grand learning all sorts of new things that I never would have imagined back in high school! Bring an open mind I guess. That would be most important.
Seriously, electric coffee perculater (this was before coffe makers,we had to walk to class thru the…) they were illegal in the dorm but every one had one, set it in the open window fan the aroma out. The 'dorm dicks let us get away with it,but not hot plates. Also used it to boil water for soup (don’t make it in the pot,bleh coffe later, pour it slowly into another pan with the soup, stirring all the time),tea, all kinds a stuff. Coffe makers won’t make so much aroma,get one you can set a pan under instead of the pot for soup etc. The little heating coils you dip in a cup are nice too,but keep your eye on it and don’t set it down without unpugging it. the coffee filters are good for filtering potasium iodide crystals(? that aint it, any mad bombers out there?) which you carefully funnel into a key hole,then wait for some one to insert their key.
“…”-Marx
No bullshit…a sense of adventure and willingness to try new things and meet different/new types of people. Don’t be too set in your ways, get your ass to class and have fun, in four years you’ll have to get a job and you will miss college like crazy. Good luck!
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don’t have it.
George Bernard Shaw
Also, don’t forget a fan, most dorms don’t have A/C and those cells don’t ventilate for shit.
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don’t have it.
George Bernard Shaw
The most important thing I owned while in college (I didn’t dorm) was my laptop computer. Mind you, I was a computer science major, so it might not have the same importance to others as mine did to me.
Chaim Mattis Keller
ckeller@schicktech.com
“Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be
the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible.
The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.”
– Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective
Ohhh … yes, not that somebody mentions it. Yes, a fan!
Ohhh … yes, now that somebody mentions it. Yes, a fan!
Comfortable clothes for chasing around on a big campus. A backpack with supplies and books, but don’t carry around heavy books. A watch to make sure you are on time. A campus map. A wallet/purse with some cash and plastic cards, but not too much. These days, a water bottle would be good.
Sounds a lot like a back packing trip. A good brain is what is needed most in college.
A VERY powerful alarm clock if you tend to sleep heavily.
A ton of quarters. You’ll need them for laundry, making copies, vending machines, etc. It’s nice to have them around just so you don’t have to go around getting change. And that leads me to my next item…
A strongbox. Padlocked with a key or a combination lock or both. Put your quarters in there, along with anything else that you don’t want anyone to steal or “borrow.” Most people will respect your stuff. Some won’t, however, and this box is designed with those people in mind. Keep the box well-hidden. Under the dirty clothes in your laundry hamper is probably a good place for it.
Oh, before I forget. Your first week or so, a bunch of people will set up tables outside of everywhere on campus, trying to get you to sign up for a credit card. DON’T DO IT, no matter what kind of cool free gifts they offer you for doing so. You may think that you’ll just cut up the card, but they’ll hit around Christmastime, and you’ll need the money…and trust me, it’s better to be broke and debt-free than it is to be broke and in debt. A girl I went to high school with had to file for personal bankruptcy because of her credit card debts from these cards. If you want to develop good credit, get one or two store cards that you can use every now and then and you know you can pay off, but wait for a while before you get a “real” credit card.
A coffee pot and a year’s supply of Ramen Noodle Soup and Oatmeal that can be made in the coffee pot.
Patience and and open mind.
hmmmm… probably condoms…
“Minds are like parachutes; they work best when open.”
-Lord Thomas Dewar
Hey! I leave tomorrow too! What a coincidence! Not really, but . . .
Wow, I’m nervous. The most important thing I’m bringing is my underwear, but then again, I might not have much use for it . . .
Die, foul crouton!
Also important: the things you leave behind.
College is very different socially than high school. At least it was for me. Cliques, while they still exist, are very different and, to my experience, much looser than in HS. So leave behind the preconceptions (including those you have about yourself) when you go to college.
This is especially great if you were less than totally popular in HS. This is a chance for a whole new start. Even if you already know people who will be there, it’ll be a much bigger “sea” for you, the fish, so that HS stuff won’t have to follow you there. Conversely, if you were the prom queen in HS, it doesn’t necessarily follow…So don’t presume you’ll be locked into the same group. Even if you liked your HS group, now’s a chance to explore others.
And if you have any stuffed animals, well you might want to think about leaving them behind, too.
Watch, small microwave (if they allow it), a walkman (trust me nothing better for studying with others in the room), and a picture of your family (no one thinks about this but the opposite sex seems to really dig this)
If you can find time to keep a journal you will find it a wonderful tool later in life… because you can look back and see how far you’ve come or the patterns you’re repeating. I treasure those records…
Looking back, the single most useful thing I took to college with me were the baggy combat fatigues the Air Force issued me. They were loose enought to be comfortable in summer, and also to wear long johns underneath in winter. Worth their weight in gold! Also, the ALICE pack I had made the most fantastic bookbag on the campus. (Room for books, lab equipment, supplies, coffee cups, gloves, hats, food, you name it.) If you’re going to school in a northern state, and the campus is relatively large, then you will need not only a large, warm parka, but also about a dozen heavy sweatshirts. (You can buy one of the “school” ones if you want, but the problem with those is, they want too much for them, and they don’t last any longer than the ones you get at Wal-Mart.) Anyway, have fun and stop to smell the roses now and then. Your college years are some of the best you’ll ever have; mine were, right after the military.