Looking back on my first year of school, going into my sophomore year, there are so many things I wish I would have had when I started. There are things that just work for college that don’t work for high school and things that worked in high school that won’t cut it in college.

Tablet. You can buy an iPad or a windows tablet. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but it is something thats worth the investment. You can use it during class and its not as bulky as a computer, but still as convenient for in class discussions. I love using it to read the online material as I am taking notes so I know what to emphasize for test. It is also great if you buy eBooks instead of hard-copy textbooks.

Water bottle. Now I mentioned this in an earlier post, but its so smart to invest in a good water bottle not just bringing water to class. That will get expensive especially if you finish the water during the day you’ll have to go buy another whereas this you can just keep refilling it.

Backpack. My JanSport backpack would work in high school, there wasn’t so much in the backpack to weigh it down so it worked. But, I learned quickly that my backpack would not cut it in college. Between the textbooks, notebooks and laptops the backpack wasn’t sturdy enough to last and caused some major backaches at the end of the day. Investing in a sturdy backpack will help in the long run, whether you are on a small campus or big campus.