Design Your Dorm

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Upon moving to the dorms, most students make the mistake of packing things that they really don’t need. Sometimes, this happens at the expense of the essentials. Here some useful things that you or your college student may have forgotten to bring to move-in day:

First Aid Kit

You don’t know when an accident will occur, right? A dorm room must always have a first aid kit in case emergencies. So make sure that at least one of you or your dorm mates have this item.

Under the Bed Storage

In college life, there will come a time that lots of things will be stored in your room. Some of them might even be useless and it crowds in your room. A small under the bed storage is perfect in organizing these “forgotten” things and will keep the room a little bigger than usual.

Extra Sheets

Sometimes, kids have this tendency of just bring a piece of bed sheet when moving. As stated in number 1, you won’t know when an accident will occur. It’s better to have an extra than sleep “sheetless”

Shelves

There would be numerous time that you’re going to need a stapler. College life means making paper works that are more than 1 page. You don’t want to walk around asking for staplers when doing such troublesome paper works, do you?

Shower Shoe

When you go to college, you may be unfortunate enough to have to share a bathroom with many more people than you ever thought you would. And with countless feet walking here and there in the bathroom, you won’t know how “dirty” the floors are.

Yeah, maybe these things are not super popular among college students. But, they are some of the items you will need to survive your college life.

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“What if I can’t stand my roommate?” “How will we deal with dormroom hookups?” “What’s it like to shower in co-ed bathrooms?” These are some of the many questions you’ll be faced with as you move out from under your parents’ roof and into a hall packed with dozens of other freshmen with little to no experience living away from home. How can you make sure you get along with your new neighbors? Unigo asked dozens of college students what they wish they’d known about living in a dorm before they showed up on campus freshman year.

Read on for behind-the-scenes dorm tour videos and real advice from real students on college dorm life.

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You won’t always have time to go enjoy a delicious gourmet meal in your residence hall, and studying in the dorms can make you hungry! Snacking is important, but the difference between healthy snacks and junk food could help you avoid the freshman 15. Here are some healthy snack ideas.

	Pretzels	Contrary to popular new trends and the South Beach diet, carbs are not the devil. Pretzels are a good source of energy. Having these in your arsenal assures you of some healthy and low fat carb intake.
	Fruits	Always a good source of energy and nutrients, you can’t go wrong with fruits. Dried fruits for the dorms are also a good alternative, and won’t go bad on you before your first set of exams.
	Air popped Popcorn	With a whopping 31 calories and 0 saturated fat per serving, not only does this popcorn taste good, its healthy as well. A small bag should fill your cravings without the high fat found in regular bagged popcorn..
	Nuts	Nuts in general are rich in nutrients making these one of the best healthy dorm snacks available. Almonds specifically are extra healthy, and if you’re not eating for a while, the healthy fats in nuts are the best way to hold you over until your next trip to the cafeteria. Chocolate covered or candied nuts don’t count!
	Vegetables	We hate to sound like your mother, but EAT YOUR VEGETABLES! Carrots, celery, cucumbers, radishes, and broccoli are all great choices. Try to avoid rich and creamy dressings like ranch or blue cheese, and stick with either vinaigrette or low fat dressings.
	Whole Grain Cereal	You can eat out of the box (wash your hands!) like shredded mini wheats (not frosted) or any cereal from the brand Kashi, like Go Lean Crunch! These snacks contain lots of nutrients needed by your body and also go great with a bowl of low fat milk.
	Oatmeal	One of the easiest to make and healthiest foods available. You can pick up packets of instant oatmeal to make on the go for class. Again, oatmeal on its own is ok, but watch out for flavored oatmeal with too much sugar. For extra nutrients and great taste, try adding a spoon full of peanut butter!
	Yogurt	Yogurt contains live and active cultures, meaning it has live nutrients that aid in digestion for better health. In addition, yogurt is found in a large variety of flavors besides plain vanilla, like strawberry, chocolate and raspberry. Perfect for a midday snack or an early morning energy breakfast!
	Low Fat Cheese	While typical natural cheeses like cheddar are about 30% to 40%, cheese from skim or partly skim milk have fat contents between 7% to 15%. Harder cheeses usually contain more fat than soft cheeses, but you can cut back on your fat intake by choosing brands labeled “low fat” or “fat free.”
	Water	Not because it’s liquid it doesn’t mean you can’t consider it as snack. Remember that 2/3 of the human body is water, so hydrating yourself is one of the most important things for your health. Water will also increase your metabolism and energy levels to keep you going all day…and night!

Now you know the exercises, and the snacks to help you stay fit freshman year. Staying off the beer and avoiding late night fast food trips will also help keep away the freshman 15.

Tell us your favorite dorm room snacks in the comment section below, and we’ll feature our favorites it in an upcoming post.

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We were recently featured on KTLA’s Kurt the Cyber Guy.  Here is the video!!

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Written By: Kelli B Miller of 3 Boys & a Dog

You might think it strange for me to be writing this post since my oldest is only nine. Is it really strange? Do you honestly think 9 is too young for me to start preparing him for college?
More kids today attend college than have in the past, but a higher percentage of college-bound teens flunk out now than ever before! Why? Americans, as a whole, fail to teach their students how to learn!
Nine years old, is a GREAT age for me to teach my child the skills he needs to excel in college.

1. Study Skills – Do you know how to study? No matter the age of your kids, they need to be taught to study effectively.

• Thinking Skills – Teach your children to think as they read or as they are listening to a lecture! Have them write down questions and main ideas.
• Survey – Everyone should look over the materials BEFORE attending class to get a feeling of what they will be learning. Obviously, if you tell me about Quantum Physics, it will go through one ear and out the other because I know ZERO about it. If I familiarize myself with it first, parts are more likely to stick.
• Recite – Stop reading ever so often and go through your head everything you just read. Write down questions as you read and answer them during reading breaks.
For more info, check out this great article on Effective Study Skills!

2. Money Matters – To go off to school, your child needs to understand how to budget and how to stick with it. Did you know that credit card companies prey on college students? According to a recent study by Sally Mae, the average college graduate starts their adult life already over 2,000 in credit card debt! That isn’t even counting the 20,000 dollars or so in Student Loans!
• Budgeting – Teach them to understand how to make their money last!

• Balance Checkbooks – How many college students all of a sudden have a checking account to handle when they have never done it before? Teach your child to balance their check book!

3. Basic Housekeeping – Whether your kid is going to have a dorm or an apartment in college, basic housekeeping skills are a MUST! Do you realize the number of people who get married and don’t have a clue how to do the basics?

• Cooking – Come up with some simple dishes and teach your child to cook them! This not only prepares them for later, but it saves money in the long run! It also helps them avoid the freshman 15!

• Laundry – Teach your kids the basics of laundry: reading labels, folding clothes, running the washer, etc.
• Clutter Control – Kids (no matter the age… 2-200) need to learn the basics of clutter control! Put it away when you are finished with it! Everything should have a specific home!

These are all very basic skills, but they are not always taught! Get your kids off on the right track NOW instead of trying to cram it in after Senior Year! Teach them when they are young! Remember, practice makes perfect. I don’t know about you, but I would rather my son practice now with his 2 dollars a week allowance than later with a couple thousand dollar credit card limit!
For more homeschooling and organizational ideas as well as great product reviews and giveaways, please be sure to visit my blog: 3 Boys & a Dog!
~Kelli

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What would you do if you went online and ventured over to TechCrunch and saw a story about Design Your Dorm? Well if you don’t know, then maybe you should click here and go to TechCrunch and see for yourself.

We know that the reason TechCrunch has featured us is because they have been hearing about us from many of their readers. So to all of you who wrote to TechCrunch about us, we appreciate it.

However, we were also featured on another enormous tech blog. It is actually one of Japan’s largest tech blogs, we just wish we could figure out what they were saying about us.