Winter break is almost over and it’s time to start thinking about what you need for the new semester.
While you haven’t figured out your spring internship yet or if you are still trying to sign up for that class, it’s time to take care of the things that are most important: the stuff you need to get back to school and back on track.
I’ve come up with a checklist for you to run through before heading back to school to make sure you have it all, from your pillowcases to your new books; I’m here to start your semester off on the right foot!
1. School Stuff
This is probably the most important on the list.
This encompasses getting signed up for your classes (if you haven’t already), getting your books shipped to your house, dorm or apartment or picking them up from the bookstore, grabbing new notebooks, paper, pens, etc, packing up your computer, and basically preparing yourself mentally for the work that is about to come.
Print out your schedule and figure out where all of your classes are. If you have a job, make sure to check in with your boss. If you need to figure out a bus route for your classes, handle that too! Basically deal with all the semantics so you aren’t panicking the day classes start.
Head to your school’s website and check out if anything has changed including the location of your class, the teacher, or the book. Check out if there have been any announcements at school and take a gander at the virtual map so you can check out where each of your classes are in order to determine the fastest route.
2. Clothes & Misc.
Don’t forget all of the laundry you brought home and never did. Hit up your laundry room and start picking through everything to find your socks, pillow cases, extra blankets, or whatever you brought home that you know you will need cleaned.
Don’t forget to grab all of your shower stuff either; there is nothing worse than heading back to school, getting sweaty dragging all your stuff up to your room only to find that you forgot all of your shower stuff at home.
Another big thing a lot of students forget is to pack a few items for spring. If you live far from home and you won’t be back home until school is out, don’t forget to grab some flip flops and shorts for when the weather gets warmer.
Don’t forget big and small items too. If you brought home your television for winter break, don’t forget it OR the remote. If you brought your baby blanket home (because you can’t sleep without it) don’t forget to double-check the crevice of your bed before walking out the door.
Of course you need to make room for any holiday gifts you received that you also want to bring back, whether that is a bag of clothes or a suitcase full of shoes.
3. Food & Drinks
Hit up Costco or your local grocery store and grab the essentials: water, cereal, oatmeal, coffee, toilet paper, whatever you buy in bulk, make sure you get it while you’re home.
You want to start off the semester with a full cupboard and everything ready to go; you won’t have time to head to the grocery store when you get up to school because you will be busy with other stuff. Take care of it while you are on vacation, and while you still have your parents credit card.
If you want to get a nice supply of booze for the spring semester, hit up your local liquor store where alcohol is probably cheaper than at school and stock up.
4. Money
If you worked over break, make sure to pick up your paychecks and deposit them while you are in town.
If you need cash from your rents or you got a bunch of checks over the holidays, make sure to also deposit those, sign them, do whatever you need to do so you will have money available to you when you go back to school.
5. Appointments
Have you been putting off getting your skin checked out, visiting the dentist, getting a prescription refilled, getting a shot, or going for a physical because you didn’t have time to go home to see your regular doctor? Now would be the time to take care of all that.
Set up an appointment (or keep the one you have) and get all of your medical stuff out of the way. Once you get it over with, you won’t have to deal with it again for a while, plus it’s good to get everything checked out, especially if you’re concerned about something like a cavity or chronic headaches.
