To my slight horror, when I unpacked his boxes today at the dorm, he had brought his Xbox One X amongst so many other “non-essentials” - football, basketball, hackeysack thingys, an iPad, and a deck of cards. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Not to derail the thread, but I feel that creeping horror, too. I would prefer if my son chose to leave his PS4 at home when he goes to college next year, but I know he’s going to want to take it. He says that besides the gaming/relaxing aspect, he talks to his friends while he’s playing. I know that’s true because I can hear the conversations – and they’re about everything about life, not just gaming.
But I also know (from watching him, and from firsthand experience when I was his age) how easy it is to lose 5 hours playing games non-stop. I guess this is going to have to be one of those “trust” things I keep hearing about when it comes to sending our mini-not-quite-adults off to college.
@homerdog back on topic, definitely a pack of cards. Two or three actually, because if my college experience is any guide, the first pack will not remain intact for very long.
Also, drop off a few cases of beverages. It can be soda, gatorade, juices, teas, or whathaveyou. My first year at college, there were these two seniors who had the coolest room on the hall. One reason is that when the school year opened, they had what seemed to be an endless supply of sodas in their room. Their door was always open and they allowed people to come grab a can any time – as long as the taker actually stayed and said a few words or even hung out. They were less giving to repeat offenders who grabbed and ran. By the time the hundreds of cans were gone, they had made friends with everyone on the hall and many students on the other floors of the dorm. These were not guys who needed a hook to get friends. They were gregarious fun-loving guys who would have made friends anyway. This was just a way to make friends quicker.
Balls, frisbees, and other items to toss with others. Flip flops, more than one pair. Headphones/earbuds - sharing a room may be new for a lot of kids, and important to keeping the peace is not forcing your roommate to listen to whatever you’re watching/listening to.
@econpop I agree with the Open Door policy being a great way to meet people. Back in the stone age when I was a freshman we just left our dorm room unlocked. We had a gigantic console TV, immense furniture that made little sense even then, and two couches. By spring there was always a bunch of guys in there at 3:30 to watch He-Man Master Of The Universe even before we got back from class. (We had nothing to steal but beer, and we were pretty liberal with that since we drank the really cheap stuff.)
Another thing to consider along those same lines is a decently stocked drug store: ibuprofen, bandaids, benedryl, condoms, saline for contacts, etc. People get caught short or have a guest after hours and find they need something. It’s good to know the responsible person on the floor if you can’t be the responsible person, so if you can manage to be that person you can meet the ones who aren’t.