I am so happy to introduce you to my guest blogger this month: Morgan Gatzemeyer.
Morgan is from central New Jersey and currently a student at Ithaca College. She is an Integrated Marketing Communications major and Italian minor. On-campus, Morgan is the Communications Chair for Habitat for Humanity where she designs and promotes on-campus events and activities. Morgan loves being active and staying in shape in order to counter the delicious meals the Ithaca Commons has to offer.
This past summer she spent eight weeks studying abroad in Sydney, Australia where she explored and experienced a culture half-way around the world. Other than that Morgan is a normal student who stays organized in order to take advantage of as many opportunities as college offers.
Welcome Morgan and enjoy her post!
Anyone can tell you to “be organized” but actually following through with it is a skill and style that is unique to everyone. Now that I’m entering into my junior year at college, I’ve learned the ways to stay organized through the college process. I was even put to the test this summer when I spent seven weeks in Australia. I had to make the most of the limited packing space I had while still making sure I brought everything I needed.
I’ve always had a tendency to keep my things neat, and never shied away from sharing a tip or two on how I would organize it. I was able to utilize my skills this month while helping my sister pack for her freshman year of college. The three rules of organization I that I found most important to stick to were:
1. If it worked for you in the past, then continue it for the future. Each year when I came to school thinking I had it all figured out, I would learn another trick on how to organize a small dorm room without making it feel cramped with all the stuff I over-packed. Without a doubt, every freshman needs the big pullout drawers to store under their bed.
I’m the person that packs my entire life for college and having those four extra drawers made a huge difference space-wise in my room without making it look cluttered or overstuffed. After using this strategy for two years, I passed them on to my sister knowing that she wouldn’t appreciate the organization but would be thankful for the space later.
2. Check and Recheck. I find packing for school gets easier year after year because I’m only adding to what I already have and don’t have to start fresh gathering stuff every summer. I remember freshmen year I overwhelmed my parents with expenses with the things I HAD to have in my room. Now I admit, I still get caught up in my “extra accessories” that I don’t really need and because of this I often do still overwhelm my parents with the last minute expenses (we all make mistakes).
The way to conquer this is to make lists of the absolute necessities you need to get so you don’t end up buying everything. The lesson here is— you need less stuff than what you actually buy so making a list ahead of time and sticking solely to it will be more efficient and cost effective.
3. Last but not least…when in doubt pile it out. The days leading up to driving to school are hectic, not because I’m not organized or that I haven’t done enough packing ahead of time (because trust me I do!). It’s because I’m gathering the piles of things around my house before I get it situated in my car. Even though all my stuff may not be in one single spot in my house, I created groups so I know where to look coming packing time. For example, upstairs is where all the piles of clothes are: jeans, sweaters, etc. Although they aren’t packed in a suitcase until the last possible minute, I start to form piles from the time when I first get home for the summer and continue to add each time a piece of clothing gets cleaned or if I know I’m not going to wear it again before I go back. This way the night before I leave, I’m not frantically running around the house looking for that one black shirt that I thought I put in the wash two weeks ago.
That exact situation has happened to me before and believe me making piles is a lot less stressful and drama-free. The other piles are scattered around my house, on all floors, containing everything from gloves to kitchen supplies. This strategy my not seem like the most organized way of packing but it does make sure you don’t forget anything.
Now that I have shared my organizational wisdom, you have two choices. One, you can either say to yourself wow that wasn’t good advice at all or two, you can enhance my suggestions and apply it to your life in someway. Organization, in my opinion, is not universal and everyone has their own system of keeping their stuff neat. Yeah it may not be how you would do it but that’s the beauty.
Let’s keep the conversation going below, what are your tips on organizing a college dorm room?
Photo is Morgan on top of King’s Canyon in Australia.
