10 Things You'll Need for College in Saskatchewan
This is it. You're making your way to college, maybe for the first time, maybe for the sixth time. Either way, Briercrest wants you to be ready and equipped for what's lying ahead of you. Here's 10 things that you'll need to do in order to get ready for college.
1. Find your favourite snack, and hoard it
This shouldn't read only "snack", it should read "thing that you enjoy eating lots of", but that would make for a really long first item on the list, like it was running on and on and on. Kind of like that last sentence.
Anyways, your mom's cookie jar won't exist in your dorm room anymore. Her pantry isn't just down the stairs, stocked with all kinds of treats. You're on your own for food now. If you find yourself hungry at 7 pm and the cafeteria is closed, you have limited options (unless you absolutely LOVE vending machines). Be sure to grab something from the local grocery store that will keep you fed through the year. Superstore has a No Name brand of Mac and Cheese for 50 cents a box. I can't speak to it's nutritional value, though.
2. Bring a Napping Pillow
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College is fantastic, but it is tiring. Be sure to nab the comfiest pillow from your parent's house and bring it with you to college to rest your head at 1 pm. And 2:30 pm. And 4:00 pm.
The best kinds of pillows are expensive, but well worth it. Be sure to find the fluffiest pillow with the most feathers to adequately comfort your sleepy head on that Tuesday afternoon after three morning classes.
Bonus tip: don't nap through your exams. This happens more than you'd think.
3. Pack your jacket
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Okay, okay. If you're from Saskatchewan you're sick of hearing how cold it is, I get it; but let's help out our friends from Vancouver who only see snow for two months of the year.
ATTENTION: IT WILL SNOW A LOT IN SASKATCHEWAN
With that out of the way, you really do need to bring a winter jacket. Your snowboarding jacket might cut it in these frigid temperatures, but just remember that there are very few trees to block the wind. It may only be -30 outside, but the wind will push it below -40 for at least 10 days this winter. That's a guarantee that will be kept (sorry Lions fans).
Along with a jacket, be sure to grab your woolliest toque and your thickest winter gloves. Maybe even some sort of face protection. Even though you may be only walking 5 minutes to your class, Saskatchewan students won't give you any pity when you strut by in your peacoat and scarf.
4. Update your subscriptions
Before you leave for college, be sure that all of your accounts are up to date. You'll need to make sure that your parents' credit card numbers are current on your Netflix, PayPal, iTunes, Rdio, Amazon, Sal's Butcher, Dorthy's Macaroni Emporium, and eBay accounts. Those are all necessary for a successful college career, unless you lug around DVDs, BlueRays, HD-DVDs, CDs, and all those bulky ways that your great grandparents used to enjoy their music and movies.
5. Park your geographical bias at the border
Okay, I'll admit, I'm a little hypocritical in saying this. I think sports chirps are still fair game, however, we need to all realize that we all come from great countries. Ontario is not the centre of the universe, and Vancouver is not the best city ever created by God or man. We need to embrace each other's differences and learn about each other's provinces. We're all meeting in the middle of Canada and we all have the same goal. Can't we overlook the weird accents that Newfies have? Can't we ignore the cowboy boots that the Lethbridge kids wear every day? We're all friends here! Whether we love Victoria's salt water taffy, or we indulge in Montreal's (gluten-free) poutine, we can all congregate in Saskatchewan and enjoy the year. Heck, even if you're from the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, we will embrace you! As long as you bring your Cherry Coke and your Cheeseburger flavoured chips.
6. Find your word processor
Welcome to college! You'll need to write papers upon papers while you're here, so you'll need a good word processor. However, Microsoft Word isn't the be all/end all of word processors.
If you have a Mac, Pages is your best friend. On the newest version of Macs and iPads, Pages is free. You can export into a Word document, PDF, Pages document, or even to a cloud service like DropBox or Google Drive.
If you're not using a Mac, you still have a few options. Microsoft WordPad should already be on your computer, which is a free program to use. You can do almost everything on WordPad that you can do in Word. Give it a try.
No matter what you're using, if you have guaranteed internet connection, GoogleDocs will also help you big time. All of your documents will be stored online (the internet will never die! Right guys?) so they don't need to take up space on your laptop. You can freely edit them online as well, assuming you can access them with a regular internet connection.
On top of all of that information, you can get Office 365 FOR FREE if you go to www.office.com/getoffice365 and sign in with your myBriercrest email address (see Academic Services if you need to know what yours is). This is a deal exclusive to students, so don't pass this up.
7. Bring your green
"Spencer, I'm a student, how can I bring cash with me? I'm broke!"
No, no, I'm not talking about cash.
You're entering Rider Nation.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are the reigning champs of the Canadian Football League and, in Saskatchewan, they are basically the highest authority. They have sway power with the Premier of the Province (http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/08/20/twitter-campaign-pays-off-for-riders) and they captivate an entire province every week during the season, for better or for worse. It is definitely okay to be a bandwagon fan (just ask AJ Crocker) during the season. Finding a green shirt, some Riders sweatpants, a watermelon to wear on your head, or even some Riders temporary tattoos for your face will get you in the good books with the Saskatchewan faithful. If you don't know what day games are, that's okay too. When you walk to chapel and see half the student body wearing green, its time to put your thrift shop Riders jersey on; that means it's Game Day. Either that, or it's St. Patrick's Day.
8. Don't forget your reading glasses
Look, along with papers, there will be a fair amount of reading that you'll have to do at college as well. To achieve the best results, you'll have to remember to bring your reading glasses. Even if you don't have prescription glasses, be sure to pick some up. Glasses make you look very studious. If your roommate walks into the room and you've got a book in your hands, they may assume you're just staring at the pages blankly like a zombie. If you're wearing glasses, they'll think you're reading, even if you've got your phone hidden in the pages and you're texting your boyfriend from home. The glasses make all the difference, so go raid your parents' closet to find those old 1980s glasses, or head to your local Value Village to cop some of the best specs that money can buy. The hipsters will love you.
9. Deodorant is your friend
This may seem very obvious, but it still needs to be said. You are in close quarters with people for the next 8 months; don't neglect the necessity of antiperspirant. Not only will you be meeting new people every day, but Briercrest has a certain "mystique" to it when it comes to meeting that special someone. It has often been called "BridalQuest" for the amount of married couples who meet within these halls. How many of those marriages started with the girl saying "that guy smells like a dying duck who ate too much asparagus"? Probably only one or two. The odds aren't in your favour if you smell terrible. You might as well shower daily and be sure to keep your stench away.
Note: this is not a green light to soak yourself in body spray.
10. A willing heart is the best thing you can bring
Cheesy, right? Its also incredibly true. College is a brand new opportunity to meet lots of new people from lots of different backgrounds. You will meet Mennonites, Anglicans, Catholics, Baptists, and maybe even a few atheists. You need to be willing to listen to what they have to say. You need to be open to your professors. You need to be loving of your hall mates.This place will change your life, but you need to be willing to let the classes form you just as much as chapel. You need to be listening to your friends as much as you do your professors. If you take only this tip to heart, and ignore the rest, you'll be quite well off.
- Spencer Meisner