Simply Camden

In about a month college students are moving back on campus. If you’re one of them I am sure that you haven’t started packing yet– August is after all over a month away.  For roughly a quarter of you it will be your first time living away from home and with a roommate.  Most likely, your room at home will be bigger than the space you’re sharing.  Check out these ten items which will make your college life a breeze:

The perfect night sleep:

Photo taken from http://www.cnn.com

1. Mattress pad

The typical person spends 1/3 of their day in their bed.  College students spend much more than that.  The bed, in many situations, is the couch, the desk, and of course the best place to nap.  One-third of your time in bed would be quite a conservative number.  Do yourself a favor and buy a mattress pad or two.  You have a plethora to choose from.  In college I used a combination of egg crates and memory foam.  More recently, I have found the wonders of a feather bed topper.  Honestly, there is no wrong choice but keep in mind no matter how many mattress-toppers you have a twin bed will still be crowded with two people.

2. Ear plugs

Those who were unfortunate enough to live in the same room with me have learned the wonders of these inexpensive foam wonders.  After breaking my nose several times my snoring has reached the decibel level of a small jet taking off.   While your roommate might not snore you might have neighbors who love loud music or a hall which thinks it’s cool to play hall hockey at 3am on a Tuesday.  Ear plugs will let you sleep right through these disturbances so you can go ace your test in the morning.

3. Sleep mask

To stick with this first theme of good sleep a sleep mask is the final touch.  If your roommate decides that video games or studying until 4am is the best use of their time you won’t even know.  It will also help you take better naps in the middle of the day.  With such great sleep make sure you have a good alarm clock.

Storage:

4. Hooks

When it comes to square footage many residence hall rooms (dorms) are lacking.  Luckily we live in a 3 dimensional world.  I have always told entering first year students don’t organize out organize up.  Adhesive hooks are a great way to cheaply and easily optimize unused space.  They can hold your sports equipment, keys, jackets, or any other item that you can hang up.  The best part is they don’t take up any floor space.  So you have so much room for activities!

Stepbrothers is a Columbia Pictures Production

5. Bed raisers

Unless you and your roommate decide to bunk your beds which is a great option for some and a terrible option for others, I recommend lofting your bed and using bed raisers to give you as much under the bed storage as possible.  Many times this allows you to slide your entire dresser underneath.  You can also buy storage crates, shelves or milk crates to optimize this often unused space.  Alternatively,  this space makes for an awesome fort.

6. A shoe rack

At minimum college students should have 2 pairs of shoes.  One they wear out doors and one they wear in the shower.  Realistically, the number– especially for those with swag– is much higher than 2.  A quality shoe rack that hangs on the back of your closet door will keep your sneakers out of harms way and keep your floor clear of clutter.

7. USB drive

Not all storage is for your things, some is digital. Inevitably a computer is going to fail on you at the worst possible time.  It might be because of all the music you downloaded or it could just be a power outage.  Either way that 20 page paper that was on your hard drive is never coming back.  With cloud technology and USB drives this shouldn’t be a problem.  Save often and back up your work to external storage.  I am not saying that it is a good think your hard drive melted like a Popsicle in June but at least you don’t have to retype  a semesters worth of work on your thesis.

8. A way to get around

For those of you at clown college
Photo taken from http://forum.xcitefun.net/unicycle-hockey-sports-t21847.html

Broke college students is redundant.  You might as well just say college students.  Any way to save on money is a good way to save on money.  With the current price of gas there is no need to drive short distances.  There is also no need to walk.  Bikes are a great way to get around.  If you’re not a fan of cycling or biking try out a long board (mine hangs on hooks– no joke).  The environment will thank you and you’ll fight the freshman 15 at the same time.

9. Food

There is no easier way to attract college students than delicious free food.  If you’re a chef go all out, feel free to make creme brulee, duck confit, and crab meat salad, your friends and roommates will love you– just be sure to let me know when and where this feast is happening.  If you’re like me you’re not the most gourmet person in the world.  Still, I can set the oven to 250 and slightly under-bake prepackaged cookie dough.  I can also press the popcorn button on a microwave.   The final step is leaving the door open and letting people hungrily walk by your freshly made master plan.

10. Air Fresheners-

You might be the cleanest person around.  That does not change the fact that you are living in a hall with 300 other 18-year-old students most of whom work out and play sports on a semi-regular basis.  There is no need for other people’s stink to permeate into your clean and tidy room.  Buy your favorite scent (mine’s vanilla) and breathe easy.

Keep in mind: you have a roommate.  The room is just as much theirs as it is yours.  Check out this quick guide on how to get along with any college roommate.  Best of luck to everyone going back to school.  I look forward to meeting all of the students living with us at Camden Miramar.