By: Joseph Nelson

If you’re looking to become a college freshman this year and might need some tips before you check into your dorm room then you found the right place. But before that I just want to say Congrats! Applying and getting accepted into college is a large task and massive challenge that many turn down, but you didn’t, so let’s get to some tips freshman.

If you are living on campus and in a dorm, please consider these following items to add for your dorm room; a LARGE trash bin because that tiny $5 bin you got at Target isn’t going to hold a week’s worth of trash (let alone 3 days). A desk or personal fan is a great investment for those who live in very hot or humid climates as the ceiling fans in dorms are hard to maintain all year round. Please, please, please buy a laundry hamper basket with wheels as it will probably be likely that you will be floors above the laundry room and carrying that basket up and down your dorm is a pain. Finally, lastly, the needs for your dorm life experience are shower shoes, I can’t elaborate more but just know that I wouldn’t step into a shower without them.

Now we all want to find a person that matches our energy and that we can tolerate sharing a room with for 8-9 months. so a good tip is that if you want better chances of finding someone who maybe shares your same interests and lifestyle and don’t want to leave it up to the chances of the dorm room lottery, then I would recommend using Facebook groups to help find your roommate. Many people post about themselves and it’s so much easier to connect with someone before the year starts then when you guys are already unpacking your room to start your year. Also, use your roommate for connections for friend groups; connections can make your college life so much easier.

My final tip for incoming college freshmen is just have fun. Sure you should strive for those good grades but college is a once in a lifetime experience that for many they regret not embracing. So what I really mean is, go to that football game to cheer for your team, it doesn’t matter if you like the sport or not, the atmosphere is enough to go as is. Join that club that you’ve been interested in, heck you don’t even have to commit, just visit once or twice to see if you’d like it. Just don’t take your experience for granted and you’ll find yourself not regretting it when you walk on stage to get that diploma.