One Response

1. tammeran

   March 25th, 2010 at 3:37 am

   1

   first of all, I want to say I’m really proud of you, for doing this – and how exciting it will probably be! What a great thing to add to your resume! (especially if you are volunteering for this, rather than "required" to do it!)

   As for things you will need/want to have, I also think it’s great that you are "looking ahead" and want to be so well prepared.

   I think the best way to "pack" a bed, is to roll it all up, into the tiniest tightest roll possible, and then tie it tight, either with belts or even scarves (that you can of course, then use to wear) – Every person on the trip will probably have bedding, and it can be stuffed and scrunched into a tiny space, if it’s not in a box or something. You migh wanna put it inside a big garbage bag, just to keep it clean.

   That’s also the way I’d pack most of your clothes – - ROLL them up – lay some tissue paper on them, and yes, roll them tightly – this eliminates the creases from folding, and when you get there and just "shake them out" they won’t be very wrinkled at all. (Chances are, most dorms have a room where the laundry is, and there is usually an iron and ironing board for student’s use – - (I went to college MANY years ago, and that "concept" had already been invented way back then! heehee)

   They now package things like laundry soaps into individual solid "packs" – since you won’t be there for months and months, but just a couple weeks, I’d get a box or bag of them, and just take a few, in a clean bag, with you, rather than an entire bottle (which is HEAVY) of laundry detergent.

   healthy and easy-care snacks include things like popcorn (microwavable – and yes, there is probably one of those in the lounge, or the study room) – juices, even pudding cups, granola-type snacks, even some yummy cereals, that you can just snack on. SOME fruits would probably "keep" okay, or you can go with the dried varieties – just wander through the grocery store, and I’m sure you’ll find things that are not refrigerated, but sealed, for individual use, that you’d like to try, or already know that you like.

   You might want to consider taking along a micro-cassette player and some tapes – - one class I took, I just could NOT keep notes, the teacher would ramble and get off on tangents, and none of us could keep things straight – - so I started taping his lectures – - just KNOWING that I had the tapes, helped me sort through the listening – I never even ended up listening to any of his classes on tape, but I could suddenly take better notes! it’s just a thought, but you just might have a teacher who talked for 20 minutes about absolutely NOTHING important to the class, boring everyone nearly to sleep, but then drops a 10-minute bombshell that everyone else MISSES because they’ve fallen asleep!

   A good backpack will serve you well – you might not have time to get back to your room between some of your classes, so once you know exactly what your schedule is, you can plan what to take with you when you head out. That includes for more than one class, obviously – - kinda like not making it back to your locker, before lunch, in high school!

   Most instructors won’t let you eat in their class, but you can have a bottle of water, handy. (As long as it can be "closed", it shouldn’t be a problem – they won’t want any cups of liquid that could spill, leaving them to probably have to clean it up, or get scolded at by the janitor.

   NEVER leave your room without pencils, and paper – you really never know when you just might need to add some note of something you see on a bulletin board, or special reminders that a teacher might post on the board – - I always carried one of the tiny 69-cent tablets you can find at any walmart or even grocery store, usually – and some mechanical pencils – - they’d never need sharpening.

   As for cell phones, when my kids went to college, we got them tracfones – - the signal was usually pretty good everywhere, the price is the same for all calls, and there weren’t any "surprises" on phone bills. i minute = i unit – - we’d get the double-minute-for-life feature, and it really wasn’t so bad. Plus they could add minutes easily themselves, (or of course, just call home to have US do it, heehee)

   good luck to you,
   and I wish you lots of FUN, besides some great educational experiences!

   I’m sure you’ll meet some great people.
   justme