Log start: 1:40am November 20th 2008
So the topic came up when we were talking about our first month in college and i wondered to myself; How did i ever survive?
I remember i had such a hard time adjusting when i first moved in. Everything was different, a stranger was sleeping a few feet away from me, we had a mini student gov't structure that wasn't really ruled by any sort of administration at all. Well, there are higher ups which control things like classes and all but ultimately, the student creates the environment. There are only 3 cop cars that patrol Stony Brook, that's about 6 cops to about 50,000 Undergrads and 10,000-15,000 Graduates. So how do you survive now that you're at this level of society? Well, it all starts in your dorm.
Like i mentioned in an earlier post, your lifestyle determines who you are, so why not start there? One of the worse things that i did when i moved in was that i brought too many things with me. Useless things that you don't need but you want to be prepared if you ever come across it.
For me, i brought too much food. Instant noodles, bags of rice, salted duck eggs, etc; asian stuff. You really don't need to bring 2 weeks worth of food with you when you start dorming at college. Any person with a decent meal plan can probably last the whole semester on that meal plan unless you eat a lot or if you're like my friend Alex which has a black hole in his stomach and everything that goes down his throat just disappears into space. Assuming that not everyone is like my friend Alex, a Silver Meal Plan at Stony Brook can last a normal healthy male, and if you're female a bronze plan will do. (Sorry, but females really don't eat as much as males, there are some exceptions of course.)
On the silver plan here, i have calculated that you are able to spend 20 dollars of your meal plan a day and end up with a perfect 0 at the end of finals week. If you eat smart, you'll be able to do 20 dollars everyday. A burger, fries, and medium drink at the Union is less than 5 dollars. that takes care of lunch. a meatball hero for dinner with drink and a small bag of chips is less than 6 dollars. that's 11 dollars! if you eat breakfest, a bagel and a medium coffee is about 3 dollars (or if you get tea, the whole breakfest is 2 dollars!). Oh man, 14 dollars! Assuming that you don't go by that schedule everyday, you can fluctuate between different kind of foods. So maybe a box of instant noodles and some instant breakfest can handle your meals on campus.
Take note that this is essential information that i have found out as a freshman so you don't have all this random junk in your room.
Next, you don't move your whole room to your dorm ( this is speaking to the guys, because i know you girls like to have stuff... i've seen your rooms... it's messier than a guys room! shame shame)
Take the essentials, boxers, shirts, pants, soap, DEODERANT. Think about what you need in your everyday life and take what you need on your first week there. Chances are, if you forget something, you'll go back home to grab more stuff on the second week.
Everything else that you need you can find on campus. Utensils, grab them from the food court. Cups, buy one of the reuseable mugs that give you a certain % off your drinks.
Because you know you dno't use everything in your room at home, they lay around collecting dust. And when it comes time to move you, you'll be hauling your butt like i did from your room to your car for like 100 trips. And if you go to school further than a decent driving distance, you shouldn't even bring that much stuff. Airplane luggage space cost $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
Here is an example of my desk, everything that i need to survive is an armslength away. The only thing that is away from my armslength is my bed, clothing, towels, and toothpaste.
Tea, fiber, TEXTBOOKS, my lovable pet betta fish (fishy), poker chips, vitamins, DEODERANT, chapstick and computer.
This pretty much covers survival needs, if there's anything else that i missed, i'll add it tommorow.
But the lesson is, don't overpack. It makes you look weird because you're hauling so much stuff that you probably won't use. Trust me. there are things that i packed when i went back home that i said to myself. "What the captain jack sparrow (insert naughty word in replace of captain jack sparrow) is this crap?"
You don't need it, and you never will. If you're missing stuff, you can go home the next week to get it or buy it around campus.
From the person who won't make the same mistake twice in dorming,
HakoneDayDreamer, when in doubt, don't bring it.
