College Thursday: WorthyStyle’s go-to list for freshmen (Part I)

Today's College Thursday post comes from one of my favorite bloggers and fellow Virginian, Whitney from Worthy Style!

Hey y’all! So I have had a lot of fun following Royar’s blog the past few years, and

especially thrilled she is headed to Bama (ROLL TIDE!), where my Mom went to grad

school. I am a Virginia native, twenty-something, with parents who both went to undergrad

here in Virginia (JMU and W&L). I followed what has traditionally been, in my family,

a predominantly male tradition of boarding school. I attended boarding school for my

sophomore through senior years of high school, and learned a lot. I think boarding school

amply prepared me for life on dorm, as it did not faze me whatsoever. I told Royar about

many ideas I had of things to pack for her dorm room, as I learned them from my seven

years living in a dorm or apartment!

The following items I highly suggest you adding to your dorm shopping list. If you or your parents have Ebates, now would be a good time to go ahead and order everything (that is a referral link where you get $5 for my referral). It saved my family a lot of money shopping for school this way. Then you can enjoy your last summer at home before college.

First of all, make yourself an emergency kit. Royar is moving into tornado alley, but I know I was at Randolph-Macon for only a month when we got hit with a hurricane that campus closed for TWO weeks. So, have your parents get you a weather radio, some of those cell phone/iPad boost chargers, some batteries, and an LED flashlight. Go to Target and buy one of their emergency kits in the pharmacy section and place it with the other items. Put them in a strong box, like a fireproof safe you can stick under your desk or under your bed (unless you loft it). Another option would be one of those heavy- duty aluminum train cases you see makeup artists use. Something you can carry if necessary is best! Another item to pick up in the pharmacy? Advil, Tylenol, Aleve. They are good for different things. Roommates will love you for having these, too. Advil is good/safe for preventing hangovers (take 1 or 2 with a bottle of water before going out), Tylenol for general headaches, Aleve for muscular pain. Then you can keep yourself going regardless of your circumstances. Some schools close their Health Center on the weekends so it is good to have some basics for the time being.

Are you a light sleeper? I am, but I am also highly affected by light as well. I made do with generic nylon eye masks for years, but now I swear by this eye mask from Magellans. Gwyneth Paltrow wrote about it on her goop newsletter and I purchased it in black. It is $16 well- spent! Another bed-time savior of mine is a noise machine. I love it and normally a roommate is receptive as long as you tell them about it ahead of time. Pick a sound together that you both are good with (ocean waves is what I have always found best for all) and set it up so it is more on your side of the room.

A drying rack sounds weird, and it kind-of is, but it can also be a life-saver. Some dorm rooms require endless amounts of quarters to dry your clothes. If you are not in the laundry room drying your clothes yourself, you might walk in to find your items in a damp pile – unceremoniously plopped on the counter. Save some $$ and keep your cute clothes safe with a drying rack! When the dryers in the dorm are full, you will love this thing. The foldable kind is good as once it is done drying you can stick it back in your closet or under your bed.

Another item is a behind-the-door shoe rack. Some dorm rooms give each student a small closet with door on either side. Other schools only have open space inset into the wall with a hanging rod so you have to figure out what to do on your own. A behind-the-door shoe rack could be hung on the door to your suite-style bathroom, on a curtain rod, on the door to your closet, or even on the end of one of your bunks. It is such a space-saver. Instead of dealing with a bunch of boxes you can stick your Rainbows, Tory Burch Revas, Jack Rogers, and Sperrys and keep them off the floor.

Here are some other incidentals that are great for your desk area

• Power strips 
• Surge protectors for everything (seriously, anything worth $$ should go in one) and also helps with us ladies sharing one room and using a hairdryer, straightener, curling iron, etc. 1-3 extension cords 
• A lamp that clips onto things. Great if you are going out and your roommate is staying in, and she wants to sleep. You don’t want the entire room to be lights out and want to be able to find your stuff, so that is where this helps. Also, a book clip light is great, too. LED lights are powerful and last a long time. If you stay up late studying or get up early to study you can clip this to your book and highlight or catch up on class reading in bed or at your desk.

I hope you all find these ideas to be helpful! It is really only the first year that getting all of

this stuff makes move-in stressful and expensive. As long as you are buying these items in

relatively neutral colors, they should last all four years you are in undergrad. Pretty great

argument to make for the parents, right? I will be sure to include more tips in my next guest

post, especially including items such as fashion and beauty products to make your life easier

on dorm.

Thanks so much Whitney! xx