What not to bring to campus in fall if you live in residence

So, you’re moving into residence and wondering what you should bring. Well, this is your lucky day as I, someone who has lived in residence for two years, am going to tell you what NOT to bother bringing to campus.

First tip to keep in mind when packing is that you need to limit how much you should bring of everything because you are working with a small space and limited storage.

Here are the most important things not to bring:

Too Many Clothes

I know, it seems silly! You can never have too many clothes, but it just means that students need to be conscientious of what they bring. If you’re like me, you’ll probably end up shopping at the Rideau Centre more than once and leave with more clothes than you planned, trying to make it fit in the small closet.

Clothes you shouldn’t bother bringing from home are ones for special occasions like fancy dresses (how often do resident students go to fancy events?) or clothes that don’t match. These will just take space in your closet that will not be used. Try to make sure all the clothes you intend to bring can work together so that you can make more than one outfit with a fun top.

Kitchen Appliances

Don’t buy kitchen appliances in advance. Chances are your roommates has stuff too. A lot of students go into residence not knowing their roommates so if you’re like me, you might bring enough to fully stock your kitchen without realizing that your roommate has done the same or has brought doubles of what you’ve brought. In a four-bedroom apartment in Annex, we ended up with four kettles and two toasters somehow.

Best way to go forward is to contact your new roommates and hope they respond to let you know what they intend to bring. After all, kitchen and storage space are precious so we need to maximise and share what we can like kettles, toasters, or pots and pans.

3)   Set of dinnerware

Do not bring a set of plates, bowls, and cups. It might be tempting if your residence has a dishwasher, but it all takes up storage space and ends up damaged during its time in residence. Especially if you share these with your roommates who won’t care as much about keeping your things nice. It’s basically an expensive loss of space that won’t last once you’re done university.

Instead, just bring one plate, one bowl, a cup, and a mug. Clean it immediately once you’re finished and it will then be fit to use by the next meal. Even if it breaks it won’t be a big loss to your wallet.

4)   Soap bottles

Don’t buy soap bottles. Not only are the plastic containers bad for the environment but they are bulky and take up a lot of space in the small washroom you have, which you might also end up sharing with a roommate. Get instead bars of soap and shampoo which are unlikely to take up much space.

5)   Books

Don’t bother bringing any books. Don’t buy textbooks in advance and don’t bring a bulky novel.

Again, we’re not working with a lot of space. Try to get most of you books online from now on. Cheaper and saves space. You can also participate in our little libraries program and trade books with others so that it doesn’t just take up space once you finish it.

For your textbooks, if you buy them in advance, there’s a chance that it’s for nothing if you drop the class. Plus, there are many ways to get these expensive textbooks you’ll use for only four months cheaper if it’s second-hand.

 

I recommend checking out the Free Store for all these categories, you can save a lot of money. Hope you enjoyed these tips on what to not bring to residence and how to make the most of your limited space in residence!

~ mélanie plante, co-op student