Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

I wanted to brainstorm what I could say in my first published writing, so I went to grab a pen and write ideas down. But guess what, I didn’t have one. I forgot my pens at home. So, I went to do what any normal person would do: I stole one from my roommate and blamed my other roommate. After a two-hour screaming match, a 45-minute boxing match and a 15-minute cool-down period, I sit here, wondering what else I forgot at home. And boy, is there a lot.

I would feel embarrassed about this, but I think it could be a great way to show that every college student is similar. We all get nervous about coming back to school, we all forget things when we pack, and we all cause the downfall of our two best friends. So here I am to tell you everything I just realized I forgot. Maybe I can give you some innovative tools you can use to replace those items. But be careful when you try them — they didn’t call me “The Human Fire Hazard” in high school for nothing.

First of all, I left my belt at home. It’s not devastating, but you would think as a 20-year-old that I would have more than one belt. Well, you thought wrong. Am I going to panic? Not yet. I have a super innovative way to fix this issue. Hear me out: take a shoelace from a shoe you don’t use. Then, tie it around your jeans. Cool, right? Wait till everyone is giving you looks in Schine because they’re jealous … they are jealous, right?

Like I said, an unused shoe is preferred. However, only one of my pairs of shoes made it to school. I like to consider it as the rest deciding not to come. That way, I don’t get any blame for forgetting them. The belt tip really complements this one when you only have one pair of shoes. Is that why I got looks? Because one of my shoes didn’t have laces? Grow up.

I’m going to move on because, just like a small blanket, I have many more things to cover. What happens if you forgot your Brita? Panic mode yet? Nope. Here comes another brilliant idea. You can just fill your water bottle at the many fountai… uh. Uh-oh. You forgot your water bottle too? Don’t cry, man.

What I suggest is to become one of those people who only uses water fountains and puts their mouth way too close to the faucet. It’s the water fountain’s fault for not dispensing enough water, not yours — trust me.

What’s important is not what you forgot, but the friends you made along the way. I think that’s the quote. Although, it may not matter if the friends you made are now in each corner of your room, duct taped to the wall because they were trying to kill each other. What I’m trying to say is this: if you want to keep someone in your life, bring duct tape. If you don’t, they’ll have to watch you take theirs, which they’ll hate. Of course, this is all hypothetical — no one forgets duct tape.

I hope I can bring you reassurance in the stress that packing causes us all. It is never easy going back to school, especially when the semester starts at zero degrees and ends at 75. As I am writing this, I am realizing a huge mistake I made. I left my computer charger at home. At least I’m not on low battery — that would’ve been bad.

OK, I actually have a low battery. I need to finish this quickly.

The point of this is to let you know that, even as a junior, I still haven’t fully adjusted. If you are like me, know that people will be there to help you, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Let me end on a nice quote from an old president or someth

Published on January 26, 2022 at 10:25 pm