What should you bring? Well, coming from a typical in-debt college student, this will be fairly simple. I’m going over pretty much everything you need on a daily basis, which, frankly, isn’t a lot. Because, remember, your objective in college will oftentimes just be getting out of that door and going to class as fast as possible.
So, before we begin, I need you to remember this before selecting your everyday carry: “It’s not what I want. It’s what I need.”. Only the essentials.
The Mobile Essentials: Phone and Wallet
So, number one is a phone. Right, so this one is kind of obvious, but you’ll definitely need something to contact people with, network, etc. And this will be your daily driver for that. So, get something standard.
I recommend an iPhone, especially for your typical universities. Because you might not want to be known as that guy with green text. But if you’re someone who doesn’t care, more power to you. I rock the Note 10 which is cool and rad and has the added bonus of acting like a functional notepad. But, know that some people might get turned off by those green text messages.
But, one thing that can remedy that is a big fat wallet. I, personally, don’t take a lot of cash with me ever. Honestly, I would recommend keeping it pretty light in the pockets, especially when you’re going through your regular schedule. You don’t want anything weighing you down. This whole college EDC thing should be focused on keeping things efficient, so you can get out of your room in 5 minutes or less, which you should lock every time you leave.
Keys and Security
Nothing crazy here either. Just a lanyard with my keys that I store next to my glasses. But, I have that little clip here that I attach to my pants for that extra security.
Watches: Necessity or Preference?
Now, the watch. Okay, honestly, I don’t even need or wear one that often. So, yeah, it’s more like a “kinda what I want in this situation and not necessarily what I need.”. This watch, in fact, just ran out of battery this past month, and I don’t really care to fix it yet.
But, anyway, a watch is nice and convenient to have as something you can use to check the time because you might be running late on your lecture or you’re checking the time on your date or something. So, yeah, I get you. I recommend, again, something simple and economical. If you want a classic, get a Seiko, which is pretty affordable as far as watches go. You can also get the Apple Watch, which will go great with that iPhone. So, get yourself a watch if you want one.
The Big Momma: Choosing Your Backpack
Now going back to the needs again, the last one is the Big Momma: The backpack. Right, so this thing represents peak performance: sleek, angular, compartmentalized, and with enough space to fit a microphone inside. Yeah, so all jokes aside, you just need a good backpack.
This article isn’t sponsored, but I use JanSport which can carry many of my books. It can handle my textbooks, the Mac, the iPad, etc. But, frankly, you just need something that can carry the weight of a few textbooks and is not too big or cumbersome to put on.
In this backpack, all I really bring is my laptop and iPad in a case sleeve. Plus, like I said, minimalist, a couple pens, pencils, and my Apple Pencil. And, sometimes, I might not even bring all of those. But, I do bring a water bottle for that hydration.
The reason why I keep it pretty empty in general is because of the textbooks. During undergrad, in particular, I had to bring textbook after textbook and the occasional lab notebook. Keeping the backpack light, in general, allows you to have some good room for your class necessities, which, depending on your major, could be pretty heavy. So, keep things light in there, and you’ll be good to go.
Final Tips for College Success
And those were my everyday carry items as a former undergrad and even a current grad student. For college students, money and time are tight, so you want to be a stickler with those two. Be strict with what you bring, how much money you spend on them, and your time in general. You don’t want to waste anything in college. So, make it simple, right?.
And, with that said, if you have any other EDC items you’d like to bring up, feel free to do so in the comment section down below. My name is Cyrus. It’s spelled like “Cyrus,” pronounced like “See Rooster,” just take out the “ter”. Thank you very much for reading and have a wonderful day! Peace.