What to take with you

By: Izzy Rampersad, a 2023-2024 Ready WA Storyteller

Congratulations Class of 2024, you’ve graduated… now what? For me, it’s been two months of work, getting moved into my freshman dorm, and starting college. I imagine for many it is a similar experience.

Whether you are moving to a dorm a few miles from home or to a completely different state or even country, you’re going to have to pack. But unlike when we were in grade school, there isn’t a supply list, no set number of notebooks or pencils. At the end of 5th grade my teacher gave me a pencil case and said “This will get you started for middle school.” I thought that was a bit silly, but at the end of high school all you get is a cover for your diploma and some encouragement to go change the world. I’m missing the simple solution, probably because it’s not simple at all. We have to pack just the right amount of clothes and comfort and school supplies…take 18 years of experience and put it in a suitcase. How can you even begin to think of what to bring?

I’m going to start with my favorite pair of jeans and my shirt from Yellowstone, then sift through my leotards to find the few I should take. Then, maybe I’ll pack a few sentimental cards, a cork board and a few pins to hang them up on my wall. I’ll fill that suitcase to its brim, and then I’ll realize I haven’t packed any pencils or notebooks or anything to actually complete schoolwork. So, I’ll take out a shirt that has too thick of a material for California heat and I’ll put some of the notes in a box at home and I’ll take out enough until I have some space in that suitcase.

Because going to college I’m going to need some space. Sure, I can take a few things, but the next chapter of your life means you’ll be gaining some stuff. You’ll need space for all of the new sentimental cards and clothes and show posters, schoolwork, everything.

So, no I don’t have a perfect gear list of what to take with you to college because there isn’t one. All I can say is when you’re packing this summer, don’t take anything because you think you have to. Take the things that can be your comfort on a hard day but know that you’ll find new things to comfort you too. Leave some room in your suitcase for all the many adventures and memories you are about to have.