I remember way back when — two years ago, actually — when I was a freshman. College was a brand new and daunting thing for me, being the oldest, and neither of my parents were college experts in this day and age (actually, they were the kind who forbid me from ever going to their school.) As a result, I ended up buying way more than I needed; better safe than sorry, right?

Well, whenever I get my stuff out of storage, I just end up stumbling across yet another item I bought but never used. It’s a freshman thing, I think. We just buy anything we may possibly need, not sure what college has in store for us, and end up with a lot of items we don’t need for years, if at all. There’s not exactly a comprehensive list of what you need for college, because it varies with each school, each person, each major and even each dorm. If you’re in van Reken, you don’t need a fan for the hot days — if you’re in any other dorm, you probably do.

Sophomores, on the other hand, are a lot more relaxed. Throughout your freshman year, you get a handle on what you need and what you don’t — basically, if you need help, freshmen would do best to ask a sophomore. I don’t remember a ton of what I bought sophomore year, if I bought anything. After all, I had learned that a lot of what I brought didn’t matter while I was in the dorms. I bought a hot pot freshman year and it stayed in storage until my junior year. Sophomores, you know what you’re doing; you’ve got this.

Unfortunately, what seems like a steady walk to ‘knowing exactly what to buy’ isn’t exactly that. This year is my junior year, and when it came time to pack, I thought I knew what I was doing. Clothes, books, food and a few assorted items. The usual stuff. However, I had to remember dishes, both for cooking and just plain for eating. I need a lot more food than before – I can’t just buy snacks at the beginning of the semester and be prepared for the rest of it. There’s more room for furniture, and more cleaning supplies are necessary. It isn’t exactly an easy walk down to the desk to pick something up like it was before. Changing from the dorms to the KE apartments isn’t exactly the simplest thing in the world.

Maybe it’s more difficult for seniors. I can’t imagine that now — I’m still trying to figure out where to put the cleaning supplies. If you stay in the apartments, you probably know what you’re doing, but what about the former RAs just getting into them? Or the people who are getting houses their senior year who have even more things to get?

Basically, sophomores, or other people staying in the same place two to three years in a row: you’re lucky. Relish it. You know what you’re doing.

I just got here a week ago, and I’ve made five Meijer runs.