Jaelyn

Move-in is quickly approaching! Last year, I was super excited for Move-In Day and started packing an entire month before I was set to move into my dorm. This time around, I’ve just started packing today, which I’m realizing was a very bad idea. I’m super excited to get back to Iowa City, but I got done with summer classes last Friday, went on a short family vacation, and now am completely exhausted and overwhelmed by the fact that I have to go through all of my stuff and repack. Needless to say, I will be spending my last few days at home frantically packing my things.

Here are a few items I think are must-haves for college and dorm living:

1. A fan. Most dorm rooms have air conditioning, but if you’re one of the lucky ones assigned to a room without air conditioning, you will be miserable for the first few weeks. I also got a ton of use out of my fan in once the heat was turned on in my dorm. My fan was pretty small, but it got the job done, plus it was easy to store when I wasn’t using it.
2. A reusable water bottle. It’s a pain to have to walk down the hall in the middle of the night just to get a drink. You’ll also be saving the environment and be able to use the fun water bottle filling stations all around campus, so this is a win-win situation.
3. An alarm clock. I tend to sleep through my phone alarm pretty often, so an alarm clock was a must-have for me.
4. Pictures. Pictures of friends and family can really cheer you up if you’re missing home, plus they add a touch of color and personality to an otherwise drab dorm wall.
5. Comfortable shoes. You WILL get blisters if you don’t wear good shoes.

Other tips:

1. Figure out where your classes are BEFORE the first day. Some buildings are pretty confusing, so it’s a good idea to try to find the exact room your class will be held in.
2. Ride the Cambus a few times when you first get to campus. Learning the Cambus routes is a trial-and-error process. Chances are you’ll probably get on the wrong bus a few times, but that’s okay! Once you get the system down, it’s pretty simple. Figure out which routes go to the dorms (Blue, Red, Interdorm, and Hawkeye Interdorm). Also: Blue to Burge (East Side), Red to Rienow (West Side).
3. Step out of your comfort zone. It can be scary, but chances are you won’t regret it. I didn’t know anyone when I came to the university, and now I have a great group of friends that I’m really close to. Because I stepped out of my comfort zone, I was able to make friends quickly and it made my transition to college a lot easier. Even if you have friends that will also be attending Iowa, it’s worthwhile to make new friends too.

Finally, remember to have fun, and Go Hawks!

This entry was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2014 at 2:21 pm and is filed under Campus Life, General, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.