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.
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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