End of Spring term 2010:
I am standing foolishly at the end of Tuck Mall on the verge of tears waiting for the Advance Transit bus (who even still uses that to get around campus?) with two huge boxes to go to True Value in downtown Hanover. That was probably the lowest point of my entire freshman year.
Let's rewind to the summer before freshman year when I thought it would be a good idea to pack literally everything I owned because OBVIOUSLY I would wear and use all of it. False. That's foolish mistake number one. But not only did I not wear the clothes that I originally brought, I recklessly decided to go home for Thanksgiving AND winter break with empty suitcases to bring the leftover items in my closet back to school that was foolish mistake number two. Let's just say packing up at the end of my first year was a catastrophic experience.
So that you don't find yourself in this similar situation, I'm going to give you some tips on how to pack and spruce up your dorm room without having to pay the overpriced fees of off-campus storage or deal with the hassle of lugging your 19 boxes halfway across campus to controlled storage.
This list is based on a combination of trendy room decorations I've witnessed over my six terms at Dartmouth, but while it's fun to have a nicely decorated room, I would take this advice with a grain of salt, in the end, it's not worth the egregious storage costs to have your room overflowing with decorations.1. Photos I am pretty sure every girl's room I've visited has had a decorative collage and/or framed photos on the wall. Why? They easily eliminate some of the empty wall space, and take up hardly any room when packing up at the end of the term. You can bring photos with you or have them printed at the CVS in town when you arrive. Either way, I recommend bringing loads of pictures to remind you of your family and friends from home to quell your first-year homesickness. You can also use the pictures from large calendars or magazines.2. Posters Be discerning in your poster selection. They're usually quite large, and this may create a duel for wall space between you and your roommate. Since you are a friendly member of the best class ever who wants to maintain rapport with your roommate(s), you don't want to have unnecessary purchases that never get used laying around after you forfeit a 24-by-32-inch space on your shared wall.3. Recycling Use things you already own baseball hats, jerseys, t-shirts, et cetera as decorations around your room. This way, you get the most use out of your favorite items. As a bonus, you won't need to make room for them in your dresser.4. Christmas lights Strings of bulbs are also easy to store, and they create a nice ambiance (for your Friday night guests, wink wink). But be warned these suckers can make your room unbearably hot in the humid springtime, and you could face hefty College fines if you use a two-pronged extension cord to connect them to the nearest outlet.5. Tapestries and throws These are actually some of the best room decorations I've seen since I've been at Dartmouth, solely because of their versatility. Urban Outfitters and other similar stores have various tapestries that can function as a carpet, wall hanging, bed cover, ceiling canopy or extra blanket in the frigid winter months.6. Organizers Shoe racks and hanging shelves help remove clutter from a room and make everything easier to locate. During Winter, snow boots can track a lot of dirt into your room and often end up all over the place. Having a hanging shelf in your closet can increase its capacity by quite a bit too. This will be especially helpful if your room is small or if you have to share a closet with your roommate.7. Home decor It's nice to have things in your dorm room that don't constantly remind you that you are a college student. Be civilized bring an actual knife and fork or have a vase that you can put flowers in on occasion. Even though most of your room decorations and storage containers will be made out of plastic, having a few items around that remind you of home always adds a nice touch.
In order to successfully utilize the following tips, I encourage you to stop trolling www.pbteen.com every night to plan out all of the little trinkets you want to buy for your room I can guarantee that the size and quality of your room (especially those of you who just found out you're living in the River and Choates ... surprise!) will look nothing like the "Dorm Room Inspiration" page on their website.
These are a few tricks for making your room a little bit more homey and hopefully less cluttered than mine during your first year at Dartmouth. If you don't take anything else away from this article, at least attempt to be selective when deciding what to bring to college. You'll really regret moving all of your belongings when you go home and find that your bedroom isn't there anymore.
