Your college (and even Pinterest) might give you a list of items that you can or can’t have with you in your dorm room, and what they think you really need, but here are a few items you truly need on-hand with you in order to survive college — trust me, I know from experience:
1. Ear Plugs and a Sleeping Mask
These items will help keep you sane and well-rested! Your roommate might seem great, but I guarantee that she probably isn’t all the time, and we all know that beauty rest is necessary! You two are bound to have different schedules no matter how close you get, and waking up to someone else’s alarms can be incredibly obnoxious. There will be days that you stay up from 7:45 a.m. one morning until 9:30 a.m. the next because you completely forgot about a project that was due the following day, and your roommate may need to sleep because of her 8 a.m. test — this will happen on her end too. You’ll want to be able to sleep through her playing loud music in the shower, laughing on the phone, stumbling in and knocking shit over when she’s drunk, and her sexcapades (if she’s feeling really inconsiderate at some point).
2. A Serious Roommate Agreement
Most schools require this in dorm rooms because they know that living with someone can get mega-stressful. In order to survive any roommate, best friend or not, you need to be completely honest with yourself and your needs. This room is as much yours as it is hers and you can’t tip-toe around each other’s needs. Think of it as establishing a safe word with a new hookup, or a BDSM contract. When you fill out this agreement be a selfish bitch! Be serious whilst filling it out and you will thank yourself later.
3. A Coffee Maker
Ain’t nobody got the dining dollars, time, or energy to be running all the way to Starbucks every morning in order to fuel up for the day. So invest in a little coffee maker for your dorm! If it isn’t allowed because it’s a fire hazard … Screw it and find a good hiding place, your RA has way bigger fish to fry than you keeping yourself caffeinated.
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4. Bar Shoes
When you go out, don’t wear nice shoes. It’ll be like prom all over again, people stepping on your opened toed sandals and your feet getting all sticky. At frat parties and bars, people will spill all kinds of beer and punch all over you. Don’t make your shoes something you have to worry about for the night and invest in a solid pair of close-toed shoes that go with anything and that can be thrown in the washing machine at a moments notice. Personally I’d go with Converse or Vans because those last forever.
5. Laundry Detergent
DON’T BELIEVE THOSE WHO USE PODS. They will ruin your clothes if the washers don’t power through and you will be left with gummy blue residue on your favorite cream sweater. Plus they’re fucking expensive, and we sluts are smart enough to make smart fiscal decisions, right?
6. Snacks
Drunk food is a real thing. So be prepared and stock up on your favorite munchies so you don’t have to wait for pizza to be delivered, it’s actually torturous. Just give in to your cravings and don’t beat yourself up.
7. “The Signal”
A good rule of thumb is that if you’re going to hook up with someone, to do it in their room. In those cases when their room is occupied, you and your roommate need a signal that you need privacy. There isn’t anything worse than coming home prepared to sleep just to walk in on some unexpected nudity. A sock on the door is very obvious, but a rubber band isn’t! Should you have a whiteboard, I recommend that you draw a little four-leaf clover on it to signal that you’re “Getting Lucky”. “The signal” is so important because the things you walk in on cannot be unseen.
8. Toilet Paper
When out and about, or possibly intoxicated, you have to pee all the time. It isn’t on a bar’s, or a frat’s, priority list to restock their bathrooms all the time. Just fold up a few sheets and stick them in your pocket before you go out. You never know whether you’ll hook up with someone, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.
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9. A Swiffer or Stain Remover
My dorm was tile, which was great when it came to spills, but it also made collecting dirt on the bottom of your feet super easy. I had to wash my sheets constantly because there was always dirt at the foot of my bed. Pack a Swiffer when you head to college and try to keep things spotless. Dorms without tile come with carpet, and that will accumulate stains, so a stain remover is handy to keep around. Personally, I enjoy things clean all the time, but these items will come in handy before room inspections too!
10. An Extra Trash Can
Throwing up in bathrooms you have to share sucks for all parties included. When I wake up in the morning and someone has vomited all over the bathroom, it definitely ruins my day. Nobody wants to deal with someone else’s mess. Plus if you do have the stomach flu you don’t want to be known as “Patient Zero”, and you won’t want to move far from your bed. Save yourself the trouble and be courteous to the health of everyone in your hall (it’ll only cost around five dollars). Whether you have the stomach flu or your drinks aren’t agreeing with you, an extra trash can is amazing for everyone’s sake.
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College is a tough place. It’s scary your first year, but these things will help you make it through successfully, I’m a veteran of the dorms myself. Good luck gorgeous sluts!
