Whether you’re excited or apprehensive, moving to university is a huge task. Having so much to remember almost always means something gets accidentally forgotten – no matter how many lists you make! To make freshers week easier, there’s a few things you will definitely not want to leave behind. Here are the top five university essentials to pack:
Sliders/flip flops
Consider these your new best friends. If you have never stepped foot in a university kitchen, you will soon find out why. Us students are not exactly famous for our cleaning skills. Gone are the days you could walk around in your fluffy bed socks, because even the cleanest of flats will end up with a sticky floor covered in crumbs. But even though having some indoor shoes means you will not have to touch the kitchen floor on purpose, they are really useful to put on quickly when the fire alarm goes off (and it will). For people with shared bathrooms, flip flops are handy to wear in the showers.
Extension leads
Plug sockets in university accommodation are inconvenient to say the least. Often the rooms only have a few awkwardly placed sockets, so an extension lead is extremely helpful to charge a phone, laptop, or any plug-in device. Watching a film tucked up in bed is much nicer when your laptop can be plugged in close enough to see the screen!
Photographs of family and friends (and a way to display them)
Ok, so this one is a bit more than one item. But whilst university is an amazing experience, everyone has moments when they really miss home. Photos of familiar faces from home do a brilliant job of reminding you that family and friends are only a phone call away. Your room will feel much more like your own with a picture of the family dog to look at too. Most universities have a pin board in each bedroom, but usually do not provide pins. Alternatively, command strips are perfect for sticking things to the wall without leaving a mark when you move out at the end of the year. If all else fails, a good old-fashioned photo frame is a great room decoration.
Spare Clothes Hangers
Next on the list is one of the most important, and easiest to forget. Extra clothes hangers are life savers in student accommodation, as storage is limited. No one wants to start their first day in halls by hanging up their clothes in the wardrobe just to find out there are not enough hangers. To be on the safe side, buy one more pack of hangers than you think you will need. As an added bonus, hanging up clothes to dry means that you will never have to use an iron in your entire student life. The creases will simply drop out of your clothes!
Over the door hooks
On the topic of storage, or lack of it, over the door hooks are so useful to hang up your trusty dressing gown – it is there for you when the heating is broken, you need a late-night snack, or you are getting ready for a night out so make sure there is somewhere to hang it up. For when the great British weather is famously not that great, an over the door hook is also the perfect place to store your big winter coat.
If possible, it is a good idea to find out what your accommodation provides before moving in and search university social media groups to find your new flatmates. This means you can coordinate items to bring for communal spaces. That way you won’t end up with too many toasters and not enough oven gloves.
Most importantly, although university is a big change, the local shop is never far away so do not worry. Anything you forget you can find close by or pick up when you visit home.
Good luck!
See also: Best student fashion discounts