Back to School Week - Day One

It's back to school week here at TWL! After a LOT of time spent on Google I came to realize that there really isn't a lot of work done on prepping to go back to school - namely college. Even worse, there is NO advice online for those returning to college after a break. So, we sat down, took some time and got to making a week's worth of blog posts worth of returning to school!

Day One: Buy your supplies - books, technologies, and other supplies.

For those of you who have no idea what you'll need, here are the basics:

Binders

• Computer / Laptop
• Binders - Usually one per class
• Notebooks - one per class.
• Pens 
• Backpack / Sturdy Bookbag
• Books 

Notebooks

The best bit of advice I can give to ANY college student (new or returning) is to buy your books ahead of time. Your books will be listed online, so you can easily get them purchased. The sooner you buy them, the better, you can purchase the used books in good condition first!

I always buy one binder per class, and one notebook per class. Since I do have a touch of OCD, I like to take crappy notes in my notebooks and then copy them neatly into my binders. This makes studying really easy and I am able to remember the material better. Also, any extra information I find can be added nicely into the notes, such as online research, book quotes, images, the works.

Flash Card Holder

This semester I splurged and got an index card holder. It was cheap and cute at Wal-Mart and I really need one, since usually my cards end up either getting loose in my bag or getting dirty from all the odds and ends, like loose pens. I also purchased a pack of index cards, and got a LOT more than I will ever need. (The extras are now residing in my recipe box).

Target has Flash Drives with cute covers for dirt cheap ($10 for 16mb's). I got one because you NEVER KNOW. ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR FILES ON A FLASH DRIVE. You never know when your computer will fail. When a document won't print. When you won't have a printer available. If its possible, it WILL happen if you aren't prepared!

Books

Also, you can take it to work and work on your papers there. Not that I do that or anything.

PENS. I'm a pen whore and forget they're in my pockets when I leave work, so I have so many pens I could cry. I always get ink pens now that I'm in college, and never use pencils. I don't know why, but unless its a test, I see no need for a pencil. I didn't purchase pens this year because I have close to a thousand of them. (No joke.)

Lastly, get a GOOD backpack or bookbag. My favorite backpack's are OGIO brand. They last FOREVER. My OGIO backpack from high school just bit the dust, putting it at over 6 years old. It lasted through high school, college and technical school. Also, it was used for work. Make sure you get a durable backpack.

That's it for day one of Back to School week. Are there any supplies you can't live without? Share below!