To Pack or Not to Pack: Getting Ready for Freshman Year

After stressing about the SATs, cramming your life story into a couple of essays, answering even more questions about yourself in various interviews, and anxiously awaiting decisions for months, you’ve finally gotten into college. You pay your deposit and then you’re set. However, then you’re inevitably met with the daunting task of moving in.

It can be difficult to figure out what you need and what you don’t, whether you’re staying in your home state or moving to the other side of the country. So, I surveyed some students who just finished their freshman year of college to find out what they needed – and what they didn’t. 

(In front) Athene del Vecchio, (back row, from left) Aleciia Bragg, Jamie Hassell and Catalin Hernandez in front of the Capitol building in Austin, TX.

Jamie Hassell

Jamie Hassell, a graduate of Carnegie Vanguard High School, is studying textiles and apparel at The University of Texas at Austin. With Austin’s “hot and sweaty” weather, she said she wishes she had packed more summer clothes rather than 10 pairs of heels. She thinks that packing practical items like band-aids and Advil was a good idea but packing a random box of home supplies wasn’t. “I immediately forgot what was in the box and never opened it.”

Athene del Vecchio

Athene del Vecchio, a graduate of Carnegie Vanguard High School, is an incoming sophomore at the George Washington University in D.C. She wishes she packed for spices for food because she’s having a hard time finding a lot of seasoned food in restaurants around D.C. She regrets packing all the clothes she never wore at home. “I don’t know why I thought I would start wearing them in college, and it was really just dead weight in my luggage.”

(From left) Ife Omidiran, Vanessa Chambers, Nyla Brewster and Ayana Gray at the Yale vs. Harvard football game. 

Ife Omidiran

Ife Omidiran, a graduate of Carnegie Vanguard High School, is an incoming sophomore at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA to study philosophy and computer science. She’s happy she brought along her guitar and is excited that she “finally got to experience all four seasons” - something she didn’t get the chance to do in Houston. However, she wishes she hadn’t packed so many clothes, so she’d have more room for seasonal items, such as jackets for varying amounts of cold weather, gloves, scarves, and shorts for the summer and spring. 

Vivi Collymore

Vivi Collymore, a graduate of Carnegie Vanguard High School, is an incoming sophomore Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. The biggest adjustment for her was the weather: “Not only is it super snowy, I didn’t even know harsh winds or wind chill existed. It’s the kind of cold that makes your fingers go numb.” She wishes she had packed better gloves - as those proved to crucial - and different kinds of jackets, such as a lighter one for regular cold days and heavier ones for snow days. On top of that, she regrets packing too many clothes. “Choose wisely what you take to college, so you don’t end up with 5 suitcases to take home like me!”

(From left, in front) Isabella "Chichi" Valle-Riestra, Elizabeth Barineau and (in back) Sydney Goodstone moving in at USC. 

Elizabeth Barineau

Elizabeth Barineau, also a Buzz intern, graduated from Episcopal High School and is pursuing journalism at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The weather is pretty sunny, but “you never know when the weather's going to change,” and wishes she had brought a fan for the summer months. However, all the nice clothes she packed ended up taking too much room in her closet. “I should have thought about what I was actually going to be wearing on the daily.”