May 3, 2017, by Lucy

What to take and what not to take to university

What to bring to uni

  • A bath mat: stepping out of the warm embrace of a shower onto a cold floor is a big shock to the system to say the least. Without being over dramatic, I imagine that it is what stepping off of a ship to begin an expedition in the arctic feels like. Except in this expedition you have no shoes on. Buying a bath mat will cushion your transition from this world, as well as stopping wet footprints being left across the floor and making it seem like an unearthly body as risen from the sea.
  • A door stop: for when you want to be social, but don’t want to try too hard to be that social. Putting a door stop near your door will connect you to the outside world without requiring you to leave your room. Nice.
  • A sieve: have you ever tried separating rice from water without a sieve? No? Well, let me tell you, it’s a mammoth task. The holes in a colander are too big and attempting to drain the rice simply leads to a blocked sink. All you wanted was a simple, wholesome meal but without a sieve all you have earned yourself is a kitchen mare, an existential crisis and a soupy, watery concoction.

What not to bring to uni

  • All of your shoes / clothes: 3 winter coats? Check. 7 pairs of Jamie jeans? Of course. A caftan, bikini, flip flops and beach hat, just in case? It would be silly not to. Despite thinking you’ll up your style game at uni, you’ll probably give up around the week three mark and revert to your old ways. Wearing anything other than lounge wear or jeans and trainers would be considered Vogue worthy.
  • Your entire book collection: just because you’re at uni, it doesn’t mean you need a bookshelf to try and establish how well read you are among your friends. There is no way you are going to read Rebecca, Ulysses and Moby Dick on top of the 4+ books you have to read for your seminars each week. Save your back when moving in and leave the library at home.
  • An iron: c’mon, Lucy. You didn’t iron before uni and you certainly won’t iron now. Why go through the effort of setting up and ironing board and potentially melting your clothes when a hair dryer, some straighteners or a shower will suffice? Besides, it’s not as though anyone will care about them creases when they are still trying to recover from the 8am wake up call themselves.
Posted in Lucy