On the list of things you need to bring to college, there is a seldom thought-of section that is arguably one of the most important: skills. Yes, skills are something that you need to bring with you to college. Today, I’m sharing with you a list of ten skills you should have before you go to college. These ten skills will help ease the culture shock of the university environment and make for a much easier transition to college life!
10 Things You Should Know How to Do Before You Start College:
How to Do Your Laundry
Having been an RA in first-year residence halls for two years, I can attest to the fact that a shocking amount of students arrive at college not knowing how to do laundry. A friend of mine even had a resident leave her laundry in the hall, expecting a laundry service to come to do her laundry for her – spoiler alert, we didn’t have a laundry service, nor do most universities! Laundry is
Want to read my tips for doing laundry in college? Click here!
How to Remove Stains
Stains. They come when you least expect them, and I was appalled and astonished when I came to college to learn that a lot of college students didn’t know how to remove stains. In fact, whenever something had the smallest stain, I learned that a lot of people simply threw the garment away!
How to Manage Prescriptions
I’ve been in charge of my own medications for as long as I can remember, they have always been my responsibility. When I went off to college, this didn’t change, but I know this isn’t the case for everyone, whether they’ve never been in charge of refilling their medications or things were completely managed by parents, this is not sustainable for college students. If you’re going to school far away from home, you’ll need to find a new pharmacy near campus and let all of your doctor’s offices know that there will be a change, or set up with your insurance for your prescriptions to be mailed to you if this is available. That can make managing your prescriptions a lot easier!
The bottom line is, if you have prescriptions, you need to know how to manage them yourself in college.
How to Do Dishes
Again, you may be surprised by how many college students have no idea how to do dishes. Don’t let this be you or your child! The time to do dishes will come, and leaving them in the sink hoping someone else will do them is not the answer. Just make sure to bring some dish soap and dish washing-gloves with you, a sponge, and you’re all set. I doubt parents will mind you practicing doing dishes if you don’t have any previous experience!
How to make Basic Meals
A few basic meals that supply some level of nutrition are great for college students to know and be able to make in the event that dining halls are closed or they have access to a kitchen and want to make something rather than venturing out in the middle of a storm, etc.
This could be as simple as reheating frozen rice and chicken, but you would be surprised how many times students try to reheat things in the residence halls and it goes horribly wrong. Being able to make eggs and pasta, while you may not have access to a stove, are also good basic skills to have.
How to Shop for Groceries
You may think that you know how to shop for groceries, but so did the students I see every year returning to the residence halls with bags of Froot Loops and candy and potato chips, convinced they will be able to live off of it for the next few weeks. While shopping for groceries will present a learning curve, being equipped with the knowledge of how to budget groceries, how much food one person really requires for however often you will be food shopping, and how long food lasts before going bad will help you both save money and feel good!
How to Make an Appointment on the Phone
If you’re capable of going to college and living on your own, you should be capable of making an appointment on the phone. Practice with your family if you have to, but you make so many appointments in college this is an essential skill.
How to Plan Ahead/Time Management
Time management is what makes college survivable. Seriously. If you don’t have the foresight to plan ahead, you’re going to have a rough time. This point really ties into the next one for me! But all in all, prioritizing is key for a lot of students when learning how to plan and manage college life.
How to Use a Calendar or Planner
If you don’t know how to use a calendar or planner and went off everything by memory or vague to-do lists up to this point, you’re going to want to make some changes. You may think it’ll be easier to juggle the fewer classes and more free time that come with college, but without some sort of planner, you’ll start struggling pretty quickly. There’s always a lot happening on a college campus and every day is different – I use a daily Simplified Planner and highly recommend these to any college student! Having the hourly layout next to a to-do list and a notes section for every day helps me stay organized and never miss a meeting or
How to Ask for Help
Anyone can struggle in college. Whether its with managing your time, course work, making friends, staying healthy, there are a lot of things that can come up in college and it is important that students know how to ask for help when they need it. I see a lot of residents who go through things unnecessarily because they didn’t realize they could ask for help or they didn’t know how to. Identifying your resources is so important for college students to know how to do, and knowing when to say you’re struggling and simply confide in someone or ask for guidance is also a really important skill to have. This can make a huge difference in someone’s college experience!
Related: 5 Things to Do Once You Have your Syllabus
To you, the person reading this, any number of these skills may seem like common sense. The concept that an 18-year-old wouldn’t know how to do any of these may be shocking.
But they wouldn’t have made this list if they weren’t something I’ve seen time and time again. Or, you may be thinking “Does someone really need to know all of these things just for college?” And quite simply, yes. Even when it comes to prescriptions, just because someone doesn’t have any regular medications doesn’t mean they won’t need to go grab some antibiotics for something they pick up on campus. Managing medications really is a useful and necessary skill!
What skills do you think that all students need to have before going to college? Leave your thoughts in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you.
2 Comments
What about making a bed?! Remember that freshman year. You’ve been helping freshmen since you were one. Great post! Love Mom
June 25, 2020 at 9:20 amI forgot about that! Maybe we’ll have to add a bonus point… or a part two!
July 17, 2020 at 9:48 pm