Back to School, The Essentials

It literally hurts me to type the words "Back to School." It's a sad fact of life, however, that summer does not last forever. Not that I don't love school, but still...My packing, though it will be slightly painful as I will have to organize my belongings and remove a good portion of my wardrobe from the floor, will not be all too complicated as it will be the third time it will be done.

For new college students life is not quite so easy. I remember the excitement of buying all new things. I also remember my mom's big list we brought everywhere. Slightly more organized than I was, my mom had a list of all things suggested by countless sources for life at school. Two years later and now aware of the specific things I need/like to have in my room I figured I could be the organized one and help anyone looking to start making such a list.

In this post I'll list the essentials and most obvious of these items. All the items will be linked to an online website, but can (most likely) be found at the actual stores as well.

Sleep

- Comforters -

Some students choose to bring quilts or comforters from home to put onto their beds. Many go with the option to buy new ones when they go to school. Companies like WalMart, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Target all have fun, colorful choices. Make sure you check with your school. Most beds are Twin XL, meaning they're slightly longer than your average twin bed.

Reversible Comforter, WalMart, $16 - $24

Reversible Comforter, Bed Bath & Beyond, $39.99

- Sheets -

Sheets can be expensive, but if you try stores like TJ Maxx, you can often find them for a lot cheaper.

Recycled Jersey Sheets Set, Target, $15.99

- Extras -
There's nothing like a couple of fun pillows or a comfy blanket to spruce up your bed and make it not only more comfortable, but to make your room a little homier. I personally have a body pillow I lean on when I'm doing work. Or on Facebook. Also, I'd suggest you buy at least a mattress pad for your bed. They're not uncomfortable, but if you're used to a nice soft bed at home a little cushioning wouldn't hurt.

Body Pillow, Walmart, $10

Toss Pillow, Walmart, $6

Eat
- Dinnerware -
Even though you eat in Alliot for each meal sometimes people like to eat cereal in their rooms in the morning or have a snack at night. You're probably going to want at least one or two plates, bowls, cups, and sets of silverware in your room. I suggest Corelle for plates and bowls. They look glass and clean easily, but aren't breakable like glass. The picture below is a set, however I know that at least the ones from Walmart are sold separately in stores. (We don't have Target in VT, so I'm not sure.)

Corelle 16-piece set, Target, $30
(sold separately at Walmart for sure)

- Appliances -

You should work out with your roommate whether or not you're going to have a refrigerator or a microwave and decide who is bringing what. Fridges come in all sorts of sizes and sometimes fun colors, so you should check to see what size is allowed in your dorm. At SMC you can also rent fridges, which is also something you could look into.

Black & Decker Compact Fridge,
Walmart, $58

Shower

- Towels -

I would suggest having two or three towels and two or three wash cloths so that if there's a sliiiiight delay between trips to the laundry room, you can throw it in your laundry bin and grab a fresh one.

Amy Butler Towels,
Bed Bath & Beyond, $13 ea.

Zebra 3 pc. Towel Set,
Walmart, $24.88

- Caddy -

You're not going to want to carry your shampoo, conditioner, razor, etc. to and from the bathroom everyday. Grab a shower caddy to bring in and out with you for less of a hassle.

Flexi Shower Tote,
Bed Bath & Beyond, $10

Shower Caddy, Walmart, $3

- Flip Flops -

So many people come in and out of the showers everyday it's easy for things to spread. While the bathrooms are cleaned very regularly, it's a good idea to wear flip flops in the shower just to be sure.

Printed Flip Flops, Old Navy, $3.50

Lights

- Floor Lamp -

You, like many others, might not enjoy the glow of the overhead lights in your dorm room. It's also nice to have a light switch right next to your bed. I'd suggest buying a floor lamp to plug in wherever you can turn it off right before bed.

Combo Lamp, Walmart, $27

High Five Floor Lamp, Walmart, $30

- Desk Lamp -

If you work at your desk you may also want to find a good desk lamp.

Desk Lamp and Organizer, Bed Bath & Beyond, $15

So, this is quite obviously not all you should look to bring to school, but it's definitely a good start. Everyone is different and prefers to have different things, but as far as the essentials go this is pretty much it. Good luck in your shopping and check back in for more tips on what to bring!

So if I didn't make the team, I could run cross-country?

Absolutely! We would love to have you! Because I'm not sure of the try out dates and whatnot for lacrosse you might not be able to run this year. OR you could do both? As you know, I'm a little foggy on the lax situation. But once you contact the coach of the lax team and figure out the dates running is definitely something you could look into!

The team is pretty big and is a whole lot of fun. I'm so glad I joined last year. Everyone is super friendly and always happy to see new faces! And our coach, Molly is awesome. If you want to email her the address is mpeters2@smcvt.edu. She's usually pretty quick to respond.

Good luck with whatever you end up doing!

Ask me anything!

I asked gabby, but she didn't really know so since you run cross country I'll ask you! What are try-outs like for sports? I want to play women's lacrosse but I am so nervous and have no idea what to expect! Also, do you know anything about cutting and stu

I just looked at Gabby's answer to your question and I'm afraid I can't be much more helpful. Cross country is pretty much open to anyone as is nordic skiing, so I don't really know anything about the process. Like Gabby said, I believe all sports allow walk ons, so as long as you attend try outs you should be all set. I seem to remember some emails and fliers for certain sport try outs, so word will definitely get out about when they will be held.

Your best bet is definitely to just get in touch with the coach. Everyone I've met in the athletic is super friendly and I'm sure she'd be more than happy to give you more information. The head coach's names are Carla Hesler and Ashley Hughes. The email you'd want to try is Coach Hesler's, which is chesler@smcvt.edu.

Ask me anything!

Oh, Hello Roomie!

A little bit ago it was all over Twitter (mostly through Gabby) that roommate info had arrived for new students. For some reason I was just recalling this and it got me thinking about when I first found out about my freshman year roommate. Of course, I was at an entirely different school in an entirely different state way back then (just two years ago), but the experience is always exciting regardless of if where you're going is where you end up staying or not.

Get ready for a flashback.

Her name is Sarah and I love her dearly. I also miss her to pieces. This is one of my favorite pics of her from freshman year. She was a unicorn for Halloween. This describes her personality perfectly.

So, this post is for anyone either going into school for the first time or transferring like I did. (Although, I don't have an "I met a total stranger again" story for the transfer part of my life. I roomed with Caroline for a bit before I ended up in a single and she couldn't be farther from total stranger.) Of course you may have already sent that "Hey roomie! I guess we'll be living together this year! Should be fun!" email/facebook message. I want to encourage you to not leave it at this. Let's not pretend that you haven't already facebook creeped because we all know you have. But be aware that fb doesn't tell you everything, even if most people think so. For example, the guy in Sarah's prof pic that I assumed was her bf? I was kind of right. He was her bf, but not her boyfriend. He was actually her best friend. It's something little that I may have found out later, but if it hadn't been for that phone call there would have been so many other things I would have never known.

The issue ends up being what to talk about right? I mean, it's really nerve racking to call a complete stranger, especially one you'll be sharing a room with. Well, let me put you at ease. The person you'll be calling actually has a lot in common with you, I guarantee it. Remember that form you filled out about roommates? Turns out they actually use it to make sure you're matched with someone that's a good fit. Funny how that works!

I hope everyone has an amazing experience with their roommates this year like I did. Getting to know him or her before school is the first step to having a good relationship. Just take the leap and pick up the phone!

Happy Birthday, America!

As usual, I've been ridiculously busy. I worked all last week with the Pre-Teens, which was fun. It's nice to be with the older kids and do things that the younger groups don't get to do like going to St. Albans to go bowling on Monday night. A highlight of the week? It was definitely 100% convincing the ENTIRE group of Pre-Teens that another counselor is my half-brother. The clincher was our fabricated childhood story about me sitting on his head. All in all the week went by pretty fast. Then it was Fourth of July weekend, which was marvelous.

Day by day run-down of an amazing Vermont weekend mostly spent on the wonderful Lake Champlain:

Friday - Friday nights at the Tyler Place are great. The younger two groups do parades and get s'mores and whatnot. Juniors and up play Capture the Flag with the famous rubber chickens. (Check it out!) Then comes the traditional Tug o' War match. I got some good action shots as I sat this round out after chasing after one of my Pre-Teens in the woods during Capture the Flag and twisting my ankle in the process! Capture the Flag is quite obviously very serious business. After the kids play Tug o' War against one another they team up against the counselors and a few parents. I'm sad to say that the odds are just too great and the kids ALWAYS win. A few always come complaining that we let them win, but let me tell you, I do not end up on the ground every time just for show!

The action shots

Saturday - On Saturdays we see off the kids in the morning with a good-bye breakfast and then have the afternoon free until the next round of guests arrive. This past Saturday was one of the Staff Boat Dock Days for the summer. From 11-3 the boat dock boys were on duty to bring the staff tubing, water skiing, wake boarding, etc. It was awesome to have a sunny day for once and even better to get to spend that day on the lake!

After the day had ended I made my way down to Burlington to hang out with my friends from my ex-school and watch the fireworks. We worked our way toward the waterfront and ended up with an awesome view.

My fave firework picture of the night.

Sunday - Sunday was my day off. It was also the Great Race Triathalon in St. Albans Bay. I've been doing the thing since I was about 10 and haven't missed a year since. The race is a 5k run, 13ish mi bike, and 3 mi paddle. This year I ran, my dad biked, and we paddled a giant, heavy, ridiculously slow canoe together. Had it been a fast boat we would have had a good time, I'm sure. The run didn't go well, but overall it was fun as usual. My lovely friend from St. Mikes, Coligny, made an appearance and we went to lunch in St. Albans. It was good to see her and I probably won't get to again until school starts back up, but let's not go rushing that.

After the race I went to my boyfriend's family's camp on the lake and had dinner and went tubing in the gorgeous weather.

We then ended up going out on a friend's boat to watch the St. Albans fireworks to finish off the awesome day and weekend.

Heading into the bay to watch the fireworks. Pretty sunset!

Fireworks over the bay. A little blurry with the boat rocking, but still cool.

I'm now in the Playhouse working with some cute little Junior Midgets. We're in the middle of a full on heat wave. I think I'm going to lose at least 10 pounds this week in sweat. For now I'm not quite as busy as I was over the weekend. My biggest priority other than work is staying semi-cool. Wish me luck. It's probably not going to happen.