The following 10 items aren’t merely suggestions. They are necessities. They are law. Well, maybe not law, but definitely must-haves if you plan to survive the upcoming school year.
10. Electric Skillet – $35.00
While everyone else is microwaving popcorn, you can be sautéing shrimp and scrambling eggs. Cooking a hamburger in the dorm also kills two birds with one stone: eat a tasty burger and mask unwanted smells from your roommate’s hamper.
http://www.gopresto.com/products/products.php?stock=06852
9. Vitamin-C – $12.99
College dorms are hotbeds for germs and sickness. You can’t get all the nutrients you need from pizza and beer, so make sure to take your vitamins. Especially Vitamin C. Great for boosting your immune system. In a dorm you need all the help you can get.
http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3800662
8. Hand Sanitizer – $4.99
Regularly using hand sanitizer (coupled with daily vitamin C) will really go a long way. Keep a bottle on your desk and use it every time you come in. Your roommate may judge you for being a germaphobe, but you’ll be the one laughing when he misses a semester with swine flu.
http://www.purell.com/page.jhtml?id=/purell/products/prd_hand_sanitizer.inc
7. Febreze – $6.49
No matter where you are or who you live with, dorm rooms can be full of interesting smells. Maybe your roommate smokes. Maybe you just burnt a hamburger in your electric skillet. Maybe your roommate has issues controlling his gas. If you don’t want to smell like a walking dumpster in class, just spritz yourself down with Febreze before heading out. Don’t overdue it though. Then everyone will assume you’re hiding something.
http://www.febreze.com/en-us/product-group/febreze_fabric_refresher.aspx
6. Flip-Flops – $3.50
You NEED flip flops for the shower. Buy a cheap pair of flip flops (separate from your everyday flip flops) and always wear them in the shower. Always. Never, under any circumstances, should you shower without them. I have seen every single form of human excretion on a college shower floor.
http://www.oldnavy.com/products/mens-flip-flops.jsp
5. Coffee Machine – $29.99
There will be plenty of nights where you need a caffeine boost to stay up late. Cafeteria coffee? Don’t even think about it. Starbucks? Too expensive for the amount you’ll need to consume. Why not brew your own right there in the dorm? Find one with a programmable timer and wake up every morning to the smell of coffee.
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=16494089
4. Clorox Disinfecting Wipes – $5.99
My friends and I were having some drinks one night in our dorm. One of the girl’s from down the hall asked if she could join. Two hours later her puke was gracing our floor. God bless you, Clorox wipes.
http://www.clorox.com/products/overview.php?prod_id=cdw
3. Flash Drive Keychain – $14.99
So you’re working in the library on a paper late at night. You just finished your paper and now need to head to the computer lab so you can print. The internet connection is down and you can’t email the paper to yourself. You pop in the blank CD you brought and the computer tells you the disc has already been written (your roommate really wanted to burn a music CD for his girlfriend back home). No problem. Pop in your handy USB flash drive. Every single computer has a USB port so there will never be a problem using it. The price has come way down on these. $14.99 will buy you enough space to store all the papers you’ll ever need to write in college.
http://www.sandisk.com/products/computing-products/sandisk-micro-usb-flash-drive
2. Headphones – $69.99
Your headphones will serve two purposes. The first is to allow you to listen to your music or watch your favorite movie late at night without bothering your roommate. The second purpose is to block out any sounds you don’t want to hear coming from your roommate. There were a few occasions when my roommate’s girlfriend came to visit. My headphones were my best friend those weekends.
http://www.skullcandy.com/shop/g-i-rasta-2010.html
1. Laptop
When my sister moved into her dorm back in the 90’s she brought a word processor with her. And a stereo. And a television. The list goes on and on. This stuff took up half of the minivan. Laptops can do it all now and only take up half of a backpack. You can watch movies or television, listen to music, video chat with family, and oh yeah, write papers. Portability seals the deal. Roommate hosting a Grand Theft Auto party in your room and you’ve got an assignment due in the morning? Pack up and move somewhere quiet.
