What They Don't Tell You To Bring To College

As I approach the monthaversary of living in a college apartment, I am dedicating todays blog post to bring to light the skipped and underrated items for what many students miss out on when they go to college.

1.) The first item that many do not have but defiantly need are earplugs. I cannot emphasize how underrated earplugs are and how influential they can be towards a goodnight sleep or a successful study session. Because students in Santa Barbara are in college it is no surprise that there will be loud noises while trying to sleep and even while studying. Earplugs completely fix the problem of struggling to focus due to loud noises. Also a PRO TIP, in the library on West Campus next to textbook checkout is a container of FREE earplugs, so be sure stop by and grab a pair and get your study on with a goodnights sleep.

2.) Second on the list is a night pillow! Yes, a night pillow isn't the most manly thing, but I must concede they are a huge help when trying to go to bed. And better yet when your roommate still has homework to complete in the room and requires a light: you can just put on your night pillow and the lights might as well be off. An eye pillow is a huge game changer that makes going to sleep that much easier.

3.) Clean water!!! I know from my personal experience that my apartments faucet water probably isn't as clean as I'd like it to be, therefore my roommates and I do business with Culligan Water  who deliver us 5 gallon bottles of purified water every other week for $6.95. The water is dispensed out of a water cooler which we also rent at $6.95 a month, the cooler serves us all cold water at 40 degrees and hot water at 195 degrees. My apartment of 6 guys tend to go through about 10 bottles of water in the 2 week time span so it is a huge reassurance that our water is clean and ready at a cool temperature for a great price.

4.) Venmo, this is by far the most important thing every college student needs, Venmo is an app that links your bank account and credit card to allow you to send/receive money to your friends immediately online. This app is most useful because you can easily pay your roommates for splitting the groceries to the nearest cent and not have to deal with the annoyance of coins. Not to mention your roommates cant pull the "I don't have cash" excuse anymore because you can tell them to pull out their phone and Venmo you, it's 2017. Venmo provides a simple and easy way for college students to split costs and pay each other back in a fun way. I do not understand how one can be in college and not have Venmo, it makes paying people so much simpler and to be fair I too was hesitant about downloading the app last year but it has truly been a game changer since I downloaded it and strongly urge everyone else to download it.


5.) About a month into college you'll begin to notice a cluster of zombies sneezing around campus dreading life with stuffy noises and a stack of tissues close by. Thats right, the common cold is near, so brace yourself. Apart from the conventional sanitary tricks of washing hands and minimizing contact with others comes another layer of protection for just $6 a box, Emergen-C! This flavorful powder can be poured into water, hot or cold to be drinken to help fight and prevent the affects of the common cold. This is done through high dosages of Vitamin C, Zinc, Manganese, and 7 B Vitamins. The effects of these nutrients helps boost immune strength and in doing so helps protect yourself against the common cold. Emergen-C is very tasty with flavors such as Orange, Raspberry, Blueberry, Lemon-Lime, and Cherry. Inside each box will be a packet of powder filled with healthy nutrients to help make sure you don't become another cold victim. Emergen-C is a cheap, simple, and delicious way to decrease your chances of getting sick while away at college.


Be sure to revisit this post periodically throughout the school year for updates!