Unusual but useful items to bring to university: Part One!

The holidays may only be halfway through, but for incoming Freshers, how to pack for university in September may already be weighing on your mind. 

It’s easy to find extensive categorised lists of all the basics you need to bring on student blogs on OurWarwick, elsewhere on the Internet, or from asking friends or family. However, I thought it would be useful to share my list of more unusual items/or ordinary items with unusual uses, that I’m so grateful I ended up bringing to university!

1. Plasters… with masking tape! The overall amount of plasters I’ve managed to get through during just three terms of university is not a number I am proud of… all I’ll say is, over 2 full boxes have gone. The average person should not need to bring more than one box, (provided they don’t share the same incapability to peel fruits and vegetables, or have the same ill-advised ideas to jump on a electric scooter with zero prior knowledge or experience…) but make sure you bring some masking tape too! It doesn’t seem to matter what brand of plasters I’d bought or how blatantly they claimed that they were waterproof, every single one fell off every time I washed my hands, until my mum suggested the miraculous solution of using masking tape to keep the plaster in place. In fact, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have used nearly as many plasters if I’d brought the tape with me in the first place… well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it, anyway.
2. A hook for your kitchen towel: I have my mum to thank for this, again. While it’s not essential to hang your towel inside the kitchen cupboard using a hook (most people just hang theirs on the outside of the cupboard on the handle), it’s very convenient! Not only does this prevent the towel getting dirty and the risk of someone accidentally knocking it off, this method also means the towel can be spread out enough to get dry.
3. Containers…of all types! I’m sure a lunchbox or Tupperware would already be on most people’s lists, but I would also recommend buying containers that you can put in the microwave/freezer/and or store various types or amounts of leftovers. Even if you don’t think you’ll be cooking in batch much at all, once you start university I’m sure at some point you’ll end up changing your mind and then realise how useful having the containers is! Or if not, at least this is a less space-taking way to store those leftover slices of pizza in the fridge rather than trying to jam in the entire pizza box… 
4. Reusable water bottle…large, and made of stainless steel!: Don’t get me wrong, in many ways, the world of reusable water bottles is a scam/rip-off. You don’t need to buy one of those Dictator Bottles that mandates at what exact time you must have drank what exact amount of water, or a specially personalised one for you to pretend you’re on Love Island, or one of those bizarrely shaped ring-bottles (I’m sorry, did I ask for a water bottle or a dog’s hoop toy?!), but an ordinary reusable water bottle is a very acceptable purchase! While I don’t believe that you have to measure your water intake to the nth degree, drinking out of a water bottle rather than making endless trips to the kitchen to refill your glass, is a great way to make sure that you generally drink enough. Make sure you buy one that at least holds 500ml- as anything less and you’ll be making just as many trips as if you’d got a glass! And crucially, beware not to be conned by the cheapness of reusable plastic water bottles, as it’s not safe to reuse plastic containers too many times (https://www.onegreenbottle.com/this-is-why-you-should-never-reuse-singleuse-bottles/ – ), stainless steel is the way to go!

Thank you for reading: Part Two Coming soon!

Priya x