Reflection – Page 2 – Kilachand Ambassadors Blog

What I’ll Miss When I Graduate

By Morgan Donohue (CAS’22)

1. Being a short walk from just about anyone and anything

One of my best pieces of advice is that Google Maps lies about how long it takes to walk somewhere. On campus, your furthest walk will probably be no more than 20 minutes. This made getting to class, stopping for lunch, meeting up with friends, and studying so convenient, because your destination was never too far away. If something is a little far, the weather isn’t fantastic, or you’re looking to go off campus, the T runs right through campus and you can hop on with your CharlieCard. If you want to go even further away, there are several ZipCar locations around campus that make quick daytrips very convenient. I will definitely miss the proximity of all of the places and people I’ve grown to know and love over the past four years.

2. The Kilachand advising office

Being in Kilachand means that the Honors College offices are right on the first floor. This is where you can stop by for meetings with your Kilachand advisor and other members of the administration. Your Kilachand advisor is there to help you navigate your way through Kilachand and the Hub, but they are also there to support you as a person. I will absolutely miss going to the advising office just to chat, and having a dedicated advisor who was there to help me along the way.

3. Bay State Road

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When I visited campus for my first open house, there was no parking close to Kilachand, so my family had to park and walk back, all the way down Bay State Road. And boy was it worth it. Bay State Road is, in my humble opinion, one of the most beautiful streets ever. It is gorgeous in the fall when the leaves change color. It is picture-perfect in the winter when it snows. It is beautiful in the spring when the trees start to blossom again. Even if you’ve had a busy day and you’re exhausted, it’s hard to walk down Bay State Road and not enjoy yourself. I am going to miss running down the street in the mornings and admiring the gorgeous buildings on my walks home from class.

4. The Dog Pound

I was never a huge sports watcher, and I am still not, but I will make an exception for BU Hockey. I absolutely loved everything about hockey nights, eating dinner a little early so you can get the good seats, learning the chants, hearing the BU Pep Band, and getting Raising Cane’s afterwards. With a Sports Pass, you can get tickets to any home game you want, and I highly recommend heading over to Agganis Arena for some hockey. I am going to miss putting on my hockey jersey and cheering in the stands, but I hope to come back and catch the 2022 Beanpot Champions at another game.

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5. My on-campus housing

I lived in Kilachand Hall my freshman and sophomore years, and I absolutely loved my room. I loved having a bathroom in my room, being across from the Marciano Dining Hall, and living close to the Kenmore T station. This year I am living in South Campus in on-campus apartment-style housing, and I love it! I get to cook my own meals, so I am learning new recipes all the time. I live in a brownstone, so I have those iconic bowed-out windows that get plenty of sunlight. Living on campus kept me close to my classes and my friends, and I was able to make dorms and on-campus apartments into comfortable homes during the school year. I am going to miss all of that, but especially my current apartment and its view of Beacon Street.

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6. Student discounts

Your BUID comes with a lot, and I mean a LOT, of perks. With your @bu.edu email address, you can get access to discounts for digital subscriptions like The New York Times and Spotify+Hulu, software packages like Microsoft Office and MatLab, and many online clothes retailers offer discounts after you verify your student identity. You can also get free or discounted admission to museums like the MFA and the Institute of Contemporary Art if you show your BUID or order online with promo codes. I am going to miss the savings, but mostly I will miss the easy opportunities to go and experience something new without a huge price tag.

Images © Morgan Donohue 2022

Looking Back as a Senior: Advice to My Freshman Year Self

By: Anna Natrakul (CAS ’22)

These are some things that I’ve learned throughout my time at BU, and I wish it wouldn’t have taken me this long to really embrace these tips!

Enjoy where you are right now

Be present in the moment without always planning for the next thing. Intentionally make time for moments of reflecting on how far you’ve come, whether this is by talking with an old friend, taking a walk, or journaling.

Sleep is NOT for the weak

Seriously, even if you might feel fine at the time, sleeping only a few hours per night is not something that you should be okay with or proud of. Create tangible sleep goals and hold yourself accountable!

Be more open to uncertainty

Don’t underestimate all the amazing people and opportunities that you will meet just by being willing to explore new things.

Say “yes” more…

Say yes to joining that club, meeting new people, and just in general putting yourself out of your comfort zone!

… but also know when to say no

Don’t put pressure on yourself to commit to things that you’re not excited about.

Spend some quality time outside every day

Yes! And don’t trick yourself into thinking that this isn’t “productive” enough for you (after all, being outdoors truly is productive for your physical and mental health).

It’s okay to live by a schedule, as long as your schedule includes time for you to relax

Regularly make time for the things that you enjoy but aren’t required to do. Try sleeping in, reading a book, catching up with family, or enjoying your favorite food.

Remember that you’re still learning

Soon you’ll look back and be amazed at all that you learned and how you grew in such a short period of time. Don’t be so hard on yourself and celebrate every small victory!

Be kind to yourself (seriously), and let your actions show it

Don’t only go out of your way to do nice things for others; also do nice things for yourself! And I mean REALLY treat yourself. Go to that symphony concert or ballet show you’ve been dying to see, go out for dinner after a difficult exam, take a break and have that movie night with friends.

By putting these tips into action, one thing I was able to do was create this painting of the Boston skyline (it’s the view from the 9^th floor study lounge of Kilachand Hall) last summer. Making art has always been meaningful to me, but I hadn’t allowed myself the time nor space to truly enjoy it in a very long time. I hope that this advice can similarly encourage you as well!

Anna

Photo/Painting © Anna Natrakul 2022

Why Not Having a Solid Plan is OK

By Carolina Becerril (SAR'22/SPH'23)

As soon as I started out my college career, I knew I had a plan or at least I thought I did. I would go on to complete my four years as a premed student, take the MCAT, volunteer, get clinical and shadowing hours and create an excellent application that would guarantee me entrance into medical school. All in four years! Nothing crazy. Well, that very quickly changed as soon as classes started and I realized how coming to college was a lot more complicated than I expected.

I don’t say that to scare anyone coming into college but it’s something that we are all bound to realize at one point or another, and that’s ok. After my first premed course, I felt defeated to say the least. I felt like I needed to keep trying so I could stick to my plan, that if I studied a little harder, stayed up a little later and cared a little more, that I could do it and make it to medical school. At whatever cost. That also very quickly changed and did not work. By the end of my freshman year, I was more than discouraged and lost. I realized that my plan didn’t work and I didn’t have a backup one.

However, the summer of my freshman year going into my sophomore year very quickly changed my perspective on me not having a plan anymore. I got my first job at the Dean of Students office and my first research opportunity and glimpse into public health. I very quickly developed a passion for what would later become my major and main field. I met and made connections with different people that summer that completely changed my perspective and made me realize that I didn’t really need a plan, I just needed to do what was best for me.

At the beginning of my sophomore year, I quickly changed my major to Health Science and began looking into the 4+1 BS/MPH program. I continued doing research for the majority of my sophomore year, took more public health courses and grew more passionate about the field. I applied to the 4+1 program Fall semester of my junior year, got accepted and began taking MPH courses that Spring semester. I continued to do research on my own while remaining premed and becoming deeply immersed in the public health field.

While these last few years have proven to be challenging and exciting at the same time, I have come to realize that admitting to myself that having no solid plan is totally ok! As long as we get to do what we love most. I have learned that remaining flexible and being open to different options to achieve your career goals is the most important thing I can do to be happy and successful. Most importantly, I learned that we need to remind ourselves to be a little less scared about uncertainty and embrace whatever comes our way, even if it doesn’t quite fit what we want as it might just work our way.

The Keystone Project: Choose Something Fun!

By Marissa Carty (CAS'22)

The best advice I got from a Kilachand Alumni was to choose a Keystone Project that was fun. The Kilachand Keystone is a unique opportunity to do a year-long project on essentially whatever you want, with funding and advising. Many students choose to use an honors thesis in their major as the Keystone Project. However, for students looking to take on a more creative or interdisciplinary project, the Keystone Pathway is an amazing opportunity to think outside the box and not be bound to the requirements of a thesis. Students have designed playgrounds, written screenplays, written business plans, and so much more. If a traditional research thesis excites you, then go for it! But don’t be afraid to take a chance and do a unique project. I am so grateful that I took a less structured, but extremely rewarding path.

I love creative writing, and it’s been a life-long dream of mine to write a poetry collection. What started as a blurry passion project I inconsistently worked on turned into a beautiful piece of research and artwork. With the help of Professor Preston in the Keystone Proposal Workshop, I developed research questions to guide my writing, connected with two wonderful advisors, planned my goals and timeline, and submitted my proposal. The idea of a senior project can be intimidating, but the Keystone Proposal Workshop helps you work through your ideas slowly with a lot of feedback and guides you through the process to set you up for success.

As a psychology major, I knew I wanted to write my poetry collection about well-being. So often when we talk about mental health, we talk only about mental illness. I decided to focus on flourishing instead. The two questions that guided my research are:

What factors contribute to well-being in young adults and how do they manifest in us today?

How can poetry and psychology inform each other to develop a broader, more holistic definition of well-being?

I conducted a literature review on the psychology of well-being and a contemporary poetry review to study scientific, lyric, and visual forms of poetry. Then, I began to write and submit 5 poems a week to my advisors for revision. I also got to travel to Copenhagen, the city with the highest rates of human flourishing in the world, for my research! My writing centers around themes of love, belonging, mindfulness, spirituality, nature, and therapy. I used 3 main poetic techniques, 1) documentary poetry which uses archives like psychology textbooks or therapy exercises and draws out the poetry in them through lineation or erasure, 2) imagining the story of someone who embodies a research statistic to reinsert the humanity into that statistic, and 3) writing from a purely experiential perspective of well-being that does not rely on scientific data. I currently have a manuscript of 90+ edited poems and a first draft of my artist’s note, which details my process and reflections on the project.

The best advice I can give you is to think about your interests as early as possible and to choose a project you’re sincerely passionate about, rather than doing what you think you “should” do or what others expect you to do. You may never get an opportunity like the Kilachand Keystone again!

The author in Copenhagen.

Making the Most Out of College Visits

By Bridgette Lang (CAS'23)

After two years of virtual programming, many colleges are starting to offer in-person tours and events again. With so many colleges to visit and so little time, it’s important to make sure you get the most out of your visits. Here are five tips that will help you while visiting BU or any other school:

1. Make a pros/cons list

I probably looked a bit silly on my college tours, but after seeing another student do this, I decided to keep a notebook of the pros and cons of every school I visited. Start writing your list of pros and cons during the admissions presentation and then, immediately follow up after you’ve seen the campus. What did you think of the majors offered, housing, and extracurriculars? If you start making a list during your tour, you can easily reference what you wrote while writing your college application essays. It’s a lot easier to name what stood out about a school when you have a premade list! I also used this list when deciding where to enroll.

2. Sign up for a tour

You may be saying, “Duh! Of course,” because this tip seems like a no-brainer, but from speaking to my friends and family going through the college admissions process, not everyone takes a tour! You might be in a rush or only think you need to walk around campus, but taking a real tour can show you things you would have missed by yourself. Tour guides will show you parts of campus that you may just stroll by and not see.

3. Get your tour guide or another current student’s email address

You’re bound to have questions later, and if you can’t find the answers, emailing your guide is a great option. It may seem a bit scary to go get their contact information, but you won’t regret it. You’ve already established contact with them, and generally speaking, it’s their job to help you. Whether you’re filling out an application or deciding what school to enroll in, your tour guide can give you a personal perspective of their experiences.

4. Pay a special visit to your departmental building

If you have any idea of what you’re majoring in, check out the building or office that your classes will be taking place in. For example, if you’re studying business, you can swing by the Questrom School of Business, or if you’re studying political science, there will be a separate office just outside of the College of Arts and Sciences for that. You will likely be taking the majority of your classes in one building, so make sure you like it! Also, see if there are any bulletin boards or flyers. What are students in your major doing in their free time, and what kinds of events are offered? You might want to include that in your pros and cons list!

5. Visit the surrounding areas

After you’re done walking around campus, try to visit the surrounding areas in order to ensure you feel comfortable. One of the main things I paid attention to during my off-campus visits were if there were shops within walking distance. Would you feel okay traveling to this spot to get groceries, meeting your friends for coffee, or spending some time shopping? For some people, convenience and access really make a difference.

Photo by Jackie Ricciardi for Boston University Photography.

Vale vale vale

By Marie Kimball (CAS'23)

“Vale!” Hearing this expression in my home, in class, and on the streets was confusing at first. Throughout my time in high school and at Boston University, I had been learning Mexican Spanish. Now that I was in Spain, there was a lot of new lingo I had to learn, including “vale,” which pretty much means “OK.”

For my fall semester of 2021, I decided to study abroad in Madrid, Spain, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

On the very first day a bus dropped me off at my host family’s house, and this probably would’ve been the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life if I hadn’t just been on two different planes for ten hours. So actually, I was about to fall asleep and didn’t have anything else on my brain. But, I had never lived with a host family before, and didn’t know what to expect. Well, it was one of my favorite parts of the experience. I lived with a family with three young children, and between the lively family dinners, movie nights, and weekend strolls around the city, I grew very close to them and was sad to leave.

My classes were fantastic, as well. BU Study Abroad students in Madrid attend the Instituto Internacional, in which students from many American universities take classes in both English and Spanish. My three classes were about literature and women’s history, and all of them were in Spanish. Professors who had lived through the Movida of the 1980’s and Franco’s regime from 1939-1975 all shared their firsthand experiences with us while we learned from their expertise. It was a great experience.

While in Madrid, I also had an internship at La comisión para la investigación de los malos tratos a mujeres, or what was essentially Spain’s commission against gender violence and prostitution. Not having just gotten off of a plane this time, I was extremely nervous my first day. Tackling a job in my second language was a daunting task, but every day was better, and by the end I felt like I had developed meaningful relationships with all of my thoughtful and patient coworkers. My coworkers and I still text on what’s app to check in!

Also, I met great friends with whom I travelled within Spain and throughout Europe on the weekends. Between visiting Toledo, Segovia, El Escorial, Barcelona, Italy, and Portugal, I had so much fun, and learned so much about different cultures. That I had this opportunity to travel still seems surreal. It was incredible.

Finally, I learned more about myself than I had in the previous few semesters combined. Living in a different culture from your own, without any familiarity (at first at least) with the people around you allows you to unlock parts of yourself you couldn’t before. For instance, I learned how to spend time with myself, and began to love it. I spent plenty of time with myself, going to different museums and cafés, or even just walking around the city to explore and think. I enjoy being with myself like never before. Also, from all of the new experiences I’ve collected, I have a better perspective every day. This one is harder to explain, but I feel as though I have my priorities in line more now, and have achieved more balance in my lifestyle.

And it’s true that you might read all of this, and simply say “vale, vale.” However, I hope you take my experience as reason to study abroad yourself. You won’t regret it!

Photo credit: Marie K.

How Do I Know I’m in the Right Major?

By Charlie McMahon (SAR ’23)

One of the great, but often intimidating, parts of college is choosing a major. For many students, this is the first time you have real control over what you are actually going to study. For some, it may feel liberating. For others, daunting. I am here to offer some advice about the process both before entering BU and after matriculating.

First, what actually is a major? The best way I can describe a major is a specific pathway through a college or university. While you will always have some freedom in the courses you take, a major has specific requirements and often includes a suggested timeline for when you should complete each course. Many majors often have overlapping courses, so you will definitely be interacting with students from all across the school, regardless of what you study.

As you apply to schools, many applications will ask for your “intended major” or “major of interest.” Some people come into college knowing exactly what they want to do, while some people have no idea. Whatever situation you find yourself in is totally ok! If you’re feeling lost and overwhelmed, I would recommend browsing the course catalogues online to see what classes different majors require. While short descriptions do not do justice to what actually goes on in the classroom, often you can get a good feel for what the class may be like. If you’re feeling truly lost, many schools have “Undeclared” options, where you can sample a bunch of classes from a variety of disciplines before choosing what suits you best after a year or two.

Now we are going to jump ahead a bit. Imagine you have matriculated, enrolled and are going to classes. College life can be difficult at times. It is an adjustment from high school, and everyone will make the change at their own pace. It is totally normal to begin questioning your path after matriculation. I would honestly be a bit concerned if one didn’t question what they were doing at least once or twice!

Here is the most important part of this post: how do you know you are in the right major? Obviously, there is no magic formula that tells you if you are on the right path. Rather it is highly individualistic. However, as someone who loves their major and has been in the program since matriculation, I can offer a few pieces of advice or “wisdom” I have picked up along my path in the Human Physiology program.

Like I said previously, questioning is incredibly important. If you are feeling overwhelmed by your classes, it is vital to stop yourself and ask what your motivations are. Are you studying this topic because it is truly interesting to you? Perhaps there is family (or even internal) pressure to go into a specific field. The most important question to ask yourself is “Am I happy?”

I cannot sit here and pretend that the act of taking a Chemistry or Physics exam makes me happy. However, when I am feeling overwhelmed, I often find it helpful to look at the bigger picture. Though I do not enjoy the stress before an exam, I generally do enjoy going to my lectures everyday and find myself excited to learn more about the topics relevant to my major. I love making connections across disciplines, like when Biology and Chemistry interact in Systems Physiology. For me, the tradeoff of my love for, and general interest in, the disciplines outweighs the frustration and temporary stress of exams and deadlines.

If you ask yourself this question and realize that you aren’t happy or excited by your classes, I would challenge you to ask yourself a further question - is it just one class or is this a trend? You will take so many classes with so many different professors. As professors are people too, you will click with some and not others. Unfortunately, sometimes this personal connection carries over into the classroom. You are bound to have some professors that do not fit your exact learning style every once and while. No one is expecting you to love every single class you take. If you notice that this unhappiness seems to be a relatively isolated incident, I would make note of it, but carry on.

If you notice that this unhappiness seems to be a trend within your courses, then it is probably time to meet with an advisor. They can help you to figure out exactly what about your program may not be the right fit and potentially help you adjust to a better suited curriculum.

My parting piece of advice is this: when you are really stressed and frustratingly asking yourself “why did I have to pick this major,” ask yourself, “what would I be doing if I wasn’t studying this topic?” Personally, I do not have an answer to this question. As I said, I cannot say I love writing out my Chemistry mechanisms in a high stress timed environment, but when I picture myself doing something different, it just does not feel right. This grounding exercise can be quite helpful when I am overwhelmed. It forces me to think about what I appreciate about my program and consistently for me, the positives outweigh the negatives.

Thus, unfortunately, there is no magic way to know if you are in the right major. It will take some introspection and reflection, and perhaps a late night venting session with a friend over a T. Anthony’s mozzarella stick pizza, but you will find your path eventually! It is also important to note that what is best for a friend might not be best for you. College is a personal experience, so try to resist the urge to compare yourself to others. You are only competing against yourself, regardless of what anyone else may tell you! So take some time to figure out what you like best, what motivates you and how you can incorporate that into your studies. It’ll be so much better in the end!

What is Keystone? Takeaways from a Current Student’s Perspective

By Anna Natrakul (CAS ’22)

As a Kilachand student, you start hearing about the senior Keystone Project from the time you arrive on campus (or probably even before that). I was always excited about the idea of Keystone but did not truly understand the essence of the project until I started working on my own. As a current senior in the midst of my Keystone journey, here are some takeaway points that I hope will clarify what an amazing opportunity this is, and also get you excited about your own Keystone!

Keystone is indeed a “senior project”, but not in the traditional sense. While you gain important skills and meet certain expectations (setting a project timeline, justifying your needs for funding, collaborating with faculty, creating a deliverable, etc.), a major theme of Keystone is the agency of the student. You have complete control in terms of shaping the project, from choosing your “pathway” to the nature of your work. You want to do Honors in your major department? Great. You want your deliverable to be a scholarly paper based on your ethnographic fieldwork? Amazing. You change your mind and want to create a book of poetry about your own experiences conducting the fieldwork instead? Also amazing. Although having all these choices can seem daunting at first, making your own decisions is ultimately part of what makes the experience so special.

You get to choose your faculty advisor. You might send cold emails to professors you have never met or approach the principal investigator in the lab that you have worked in for years. And the way that you make this decision is… whatever feels right for your project!

You do not have to do a project within your specific major or college. While my own research background has been grounded in biochemical lab techniques, I chose to do a clinical data analysis project in the BU School of Public Health for my Keystone. I have limited experience in this sphere, but I am extremely interested, and my faculty advisor has given me helpful resources (e.g., relevant literature and tools for learning R) for learning along the way.

You are thoroughly supported during the entire process. The Keystone process is built so that your KHC instructors and peers offer valuable insights along the way. When I was first reaching out to potential faculty advisors, some of the most helpful suggestions came from the peers in my KHC course that semester. The KHC coursework also gives clear guidance and sets you up for organizational success, so that you do not get hung up on meeting rigid requirements. Instead, you get to focus on developing an impactful body of work that will make you proud! And to help you navigate roadblocks, changes in plans, or whatever questions you might have, you have a full team behind you.

For more official descriptions and pertinent information, be sure to check out the Keystone Project section of the KHC website!

My Experience with KHC Co-curriculars

By Jan Bhatt (CAS'23)

As an ambassador and peer mentor, the most common question I’ve received is about what KHC co-curriculars are, and what my co-curricular experiences have been like. So I’m going to talk about my favorite co-curriculars today! My freshman year, we were required to attend 3 co-curriculars per semester, which has since been reduced to 2 per semester. My favorite experience was the book reading and lecture with Angie Cruz. She is one of my favorite authors. We read her novel Dominicana in my KHC studio freshman year, and ever since she has become an author that I highly admire and relate to as an immigrant myself. She read excerpts from her novel and talked abundantly about her experiences as an immigrant and as an author, and it was incredible to have the opportunity to ask questions to and directly hear from someone I look up to. She is an inspiration to me and this KHC’s co-curricular event was a dream come true.

The most memorable, impactful and knowledgeable conversation that I have ever had was also during a KHC co-curricular. The co-curricular was about Dawnland, a documentary celebrating the Native American community and highlighting the atrocities committed against them in the past that we also had the opportunity to watch during Studio freshman year. KHC hosted the makers of the documentary and held a Q&A about the film. It was incredibly illuminating, as the talk allowed me to better comprehend the range of perspectives of people from the Native American community, and internalize the fact that I and every non-Native American person in America is on stolen land. I still have a poster that they gave out by the end of the co-curricular hanging on my wall, I have been bringing it with me from home to my dorm room, back and forth ever since the event. It reads “You are on indigenous land.” It challenged my perception of the world by highlighting how successfully the Native American identity has been erased from this country, and helped me to reflect on and reduce my own ignorance and lack of understanding regarding the issue.

Overall, every KHC co-curricular has taught me and exposed me to new interdisciplinary perspectives, and I am so grateful for the learning opportunities that they have presented to me.

College Dorm Room Recommendations

By Kadie Cathcart (CAS’23)

There is no understating the uniquely luxurious Kilachand Honors College exclusive experience that is having a personal bathroom within your dorm freshman year. Sharing this information with anyone in Towers, Warren, or West is the easiest way to spark jealousy amongst your peers.

However, aside from the aforementioned bathroom, the dorm rooms within KHC are not highly atypical of any of those found throughout the rest of BU’s campus. Any good dorm room has its personal touches and unique decor, but there are undoubtedly a number of important practical items every college dorm room should have.

As someone who lived in Kilachand freshman year and has lived in on-campus apartments for the last two years, I think I have accumulated a good list of the most important and often overlooked college dorm essentials.

1. Bed Sheet Fasteners - To avoid the issue of waking up in the middle of the night with your fitted sheet off the corner on your bed and on your foot, these fasteners ensure your fitted sheet will stay in place and offer a much more pleasant and less restrictive sleeping experience.

2. Boyfriend Bed Pillow Rest - Perfect for the times when you simply don’t want to sit at a desk to do work or want to relax and watch a show to decompress.

3. Dorm Slippers - Far more comfortable than a pair of outdoor shoes and extremely convenient for running down to get laundry or hang out with friends on your floor!

4. Brita Water Filter - Though Boston tap water has a reputation for being some of the best in the country, there’s nothing quite like having cold, crisp, filtered water at your fingertips.

5. Stick-On Phone Wallet - Though maybe not a “dorm room essential,” this may be the college essential. Especially when living in a dorm you have to swipe in and out of, like Kilachand, having your Terrier card readily accessible is truly an essential thing.

6. Command Hooks - Can be used for more practical purposes like hanging up bags or coats as well as for help hanging fun wall decorations or photos!

7. Extra Utensil Set - Perfect for the times where you want to have a dorm dinner or afternoon snack. Always handy to have when the late-night microwavable mac-and-cheese craving kicks in.

8. Bed Skirt - A bed skirt can mask all evil. Especially when you want to store things under your bed, a bed skirt can help to keep your room looking polished and cleaner than it may actually be.

9. Extra Seating - If you are someone who likes to have friends over in your room, consider getting an extra foldable chair for any visitors who may not fit on your bed or desk chair.

10. Mini Vacuum - It’s always surprising to see how much hair can accumulate in a college dorm room (especially one with carpet). Having a mini vacuum on hand to clean up crumbs or other messes will make your room feel that much cleaner and more put together. (KHC has standing vacuums you can rent, but its always nice to have one immediately accessible should you need it!).

Making your college dorm feel like home is one of the most important tasks any new college student has; this is where you spend time working, studying, snacking, building relationships, and most importantly sleeping. However, the practical side of dorm room living is an unavoidable thing and should be taken into consideration when preparing for your move to Boston. While these items just scratch the surface of the essentials that could be mentioned, I can guarantee having one or more of them will make your freshman year dorm experience a much more enjoyable and functional thing!

Please note that the links above are included to provide visual aids for the items listed and do not represent an endorsement of a particular product or seller. Check out BU Housing’s What to Bring list for more tips!