Going to college means making tough decisions about your stuff

Our failure at discernment often manifests itself in collections featuring varying renditions of the same item of apparel, an overabundance of decorative trinkets that serve no real purpose, and the basic hoarding of items we’re sure we’ll find a use for some day.

The acquirement of all of this “stuff” is more or less acceptable, until arrives the dreaded day when it must be sorted through. For many students, this occurs during the process of getting ready to go off to college.

Everyone knows that the infinite amount of closet and drawer space at home is severely downsized to the limited storage options provided by a dorm room.

But how does one decide what one chooses to bring along and what one can bear to part with?

Sometimes it’s just a matter of trial and error.

“You learn what is truly a necessity and what you can leave behind,” said Ohio University junior Corbin Blosat, who, since living in his dorm, has carried less and less back to campus with him.

Anyone who visited Blosat’s freshman dorm room (which was located in Atkinson House on South Green, one of the smaller layouts) might have called the selection of objects he brought with him “unnecessary.”

Some of these, which Blosat himself would hardly deem frivolous, included a skateboard, a touch lamp in the style of a Buddha, a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey mask, a Yoda bobble-head toy, Christmas lights and perhaps the most trivial of all, a two-year old can of peas given to him as a parting gift from his high-school principle.

“Everything I brought came into use at least once,” said Blosat. For instance, the Buddha lamp doubled as a light for dorm-room rave parties, and the helmet came in handy during “locker-boxing” duels with his roommate.

But Blosat said he left a great deal behind as well, the paring down of which was assisted by his mother. “She kept saying, ‘You don’t need that’ or ‘You will hurt yourself’ or ‘That’s unnecessary,’” he recalled.

Mothers often play a major role in the decision-making process.

Linda Fleming said that she helped her son, who is living for his second year in a college dorm room, by giving him advice on what to bring. “I contacted a friend who already had a list compiled of things her daughter brought to school, and added to it some of my own suggestions,” said Fleming.

And mothers always seem to know best. Fleming said that she and her son disagreed on the idea of bringing a shower caddy to school. Then it turned out that he did see a use for one after he arrived, she said.

Fleming, who also has a daughter headed off to college in the fall, said that she predicts sending a girl to college will be much different. “I think she will coordinate with her roommate about what to bring,” she said.

Fleming did admit, however, that deciding what clothes to pack might raise an issue.

Naturally, the debate over what garments to haul to college posted the biggest issue for a lot of female students.

Rachel Hyden, an OU junior studying public relations, said she actually found herself with too little, and ended up packing more clothes to bring back during her visits home. “You never know what shirt you’re going to want to wear,” Hyden said.

It also helps to ask advice from a veteran student or older sibling, especially when it comes to bringing the truly important articles that one may not think about when one is busy buying throw pillows and posters for the dorm walls.

Hyden said the biggest help came from her older sister, who gave her a laundry basket filled with useful items, including Neosporin band-aids, silverware and paper towels. “They really came in handy,” she said.

At OU in particular, room setups and sizes vary from green to green, so the amount one can tote along depends immensely on the location.

For instance, the “mod”-style dorms of South Green tend be much smaller, containing only a simple closet and dresser-drawer unit, while the larger rooms on East Green offer wall shelves.

Hyden said living in Voigt Hall, a South College Street dorm similar to those on East Green, made living arrangements much easier because of all the storage options provided.

But sometimes, it’s not the dorm room that’s the issue; it’s how one transports valuables to school.

“I brought with me whatever I could fit in the car,” said OU junior Danielle Morris, who makes an eight-hour drive from her home in New Jersey every time she moves back to Athens.

Especially for students living farther away, making the judgment about what is essential is particularly crucial. “Living far away is really hard,” said Morris.

Although she finds living in an apartment easier because she can have more things with her at college, it also creates the dilemma of how she gets those things to Athens, especially when traveling back and forth between breaks by plane.

But what doesn’t fit into Morris’s suitcase, her parents will often ship to her.

When it comes down to it, deciding whether one really needs to pack something is all a matter of personal preference.

But Blosat recommends a golden rule to those sitting on the fence about some of their more questionable belongings: “If you have a moment of thought where you ask yourself ‘Do I really need this?’ then chances are, you probably don’t.”