Essentials To Keep In Your Backpack This Semester

When it comes to college, backpacks are essential. How else would you be able to carry your Macbook, Hydroflask, the handful of college-ruled notebooks, and the occasional pencil or pen? Of course, those are only a few of the basics. In college, they do not always tell you the essentials to always carry in your backpack, 24/7. You have to learn what they are the hard way. To help give you a better understanding, here is a list of the essentials you should always keep in your backpack.

1. Charger

Whether it is for your phone or laptop, you should always carry a charger in your backpack. Although I highly recommend packing both. As a college student, your portable is your lifeline. It seriously is! It has everything on there. Your finished assignments, your unfinished assignments, your student portal, your email, the professor’s PowerPoints, lecture notes. EVERYTHING is on your laptop. You do not want to be in the middle of taking notes during class and have it die on you. Trust me.

2. Hand Sanitizer

Contracting the common cold or the flu is not uncommon in college. According to a writer of the BostonGlobe, Matt Rocheleau, the reasons students frequently get sick is because they are regularly interacting in a crowded environment. Walking on a college campus is no walk in the park. You have to maintain a steady pace to get to your class building on time. While doing so, you have to take care to avoid the backed-up traffic of tour guides, lunch hour, and the swarm of students who walk at their leisure. Not giving a care in the world that they may be holding another student up with their 3-steps-an-hour stride. And that is only to get to your class building.

Living on a campus with a congested student population is difficult because, although the closeness of students can be encouraging for social interacting, it is the very reason germs and viruses are able to spread faster than the Coronavirus. Keeping your handy dandy hand sanitizer on hand, and stashed away in your backpack, is one of the easiest ways to avoid the misfortune of getting sick. After all, your health is essential when it comes to wanting to expand your horizon.

3. Clorox Wipes

As I said before, living on a college campus that has an overflowing student population. With such a significant student population, ailments can spread like fingers in the water. To best avoid catching any afflictions, carry a small pocket pack of Clorox wipes. You can find little packets of them at your local Walmart, or CVS. Put them to good use. Whenever you come into class, wipe down your area. Be it may your desk, chair, and even your laptop. You never know what buggy germs are floating around, waiting to infect their next helpless victim.

4. Headphones

There will be days in college where you will have to find a quiet place to study. Whether it is the overcrowded library, the rowdy coffee place on campus, an empty classroom, or your dorm room. You are bound to have a day when you are studying for an exam, and there will be no such thing as a quiet place. At that point, you have to tune the world out using nothing but your headphones. Turn on some soothing music or listen to the classics.

According to Diego Santos, a writer for GoConqr, ambient instrumental music is supposedly the best kind of music to listen to when studying. Why not give that a whirl, or try listening to Mozart. In actuality, listening to Mozart has evidently proven to improve mental performance. Researchers are calling it the “Mozart Effect.” Try out some of his songs.

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5. Snacks

The life of a college student can be hectic. Running from class to class, studying all hours of the night, writing countless essays, trying to maintain six hours of sleep, and all while trying to have some form of a healthy diet. College is no joke, especially when it comes to the food intake part. Time and again, college students are in such a rush to get things done and be on time that they forget to eat. They could go all day without eating anything but water (although it is healthy, I am pretty sure it is not supposed to be the only substance in our bodies). I know because I did. What saved me from becoming malnourished was snacks.

There should be a rule where no college student is allowed to leave for their classes until they have, minimum, snacks stashed in their backpack. I am not joking. Do you know how many times my stomach’s growl had to remind me that I had not eaten anything since I woke up, or left class? Too many times to count. My roommate had a habit of throwing bags of crackers, chips, even yogurt in her backpack. Whenever I was in a rush to get to class, before I could open the door, my roommate would ask if I had any snacks in my backpack. “No.” Her general response was throwing bags of cracks, granola bars, and pretzels at me. So, long story short, make sure you have a minimum of five snacks in your backpack.

6. Water

Whether you have a Hydroflask or a water bottle, you must ALWAYS have water available to you at all times. According to Henry Corwin, a writer for The Daily Texan, 59% of college students do not drink enough water when going about their day-to-day schedule. As a result, they suffer from chronic dehydration. Dehydration not only affects the body, physically (headaches, fatigue, and nausea), but it also affects the body cognitively (concentration, problem-solving, and coordination). You already have it rough with stress, anxiety, and both the mental and physical effects of that. You do not need to add anymore onto your plate. So, to best ensure that you do not, carry a water bottle, or five, in your backpack.