Published on behalf of Clarissa Allford.

Hello there! I’m Clarissa, and in this post I’ll be explaining things you may forget but that may prove essential when you move in. If you’re anything like I am, you could be packing for weeks and still manage to forget some of the absolute essentials. Here are a few things which most of my friends forgot and why they’re essential:

CHOPPING BOARDS
There’s nothing worse than arriving at university, starting to prep your first ever meal as a responsible and independent adult and realising you’ve forgotten your chopping boards. Trust me: from experience, cutting up carrots and onions on a plate or, even worse, a work surface, is no way to live. Don’t forget to bring more than one too, and to make sure not to cross contaminate meat and vegetables. Food poisoning would not be the most ideal start to university!

POSTERS AND PICTURES
Don’t forget that you’ll be living in your new uni room for a year, and that pictures and posters will not only make the place more homely, but it’ll make settling into uni a lot easier to live in somewhere that is comforting and reminds you of happy times with your family and friends back home. Get those photos developed and don’t forget to add more as the year goes on!

MULTI-VITAMINS
Freshers flu WILL happen. You could be the most healthiest of individuals, and yet it will still manage to sneak up on you. I, for example, must have had a bad cough for about 10 weeks! A way to make sure it doesn’t affect you too badly is to bring multi-vitamins – it may sound boring, but they’ll give your immune system the boost it needs to make sure it doesn’t affect you too badly!

Other things you’ll likely to forget but most definitely need include coat hangers, washing powder, a bath mat, dish clothes, an extra mirror (uni rooms tend only to provide one or two) and copious amounts of tea towels – you’ll be alarmed at how often they need washing and how quickly you get through them.

A FEW EXTRA TIPS

• However tempted you may be, try to avoid buying textbooks before you start university. As soon as I got my reading list, I made the mistake of buying about four or five books. How many did I use? One. The rest did nothing but gather dust on my cupboard. Honestly, wait until term starts and use the library. Hallam’s library is excellent and has multiple copies of each book as well as online copies of essential texts. It’s also open 24/7 – you’d be daft not to use it.
• Also, make sure to make the most out of your SHU card. It’s a card that you’ll get at enrolment that you can use to get student discounts in loads and loads of shops. Also, if you show it to bus drivers in Sheffield you get to travel anywhere within the city for £1, which is excellent if you want to explore around the whole of Sheffield.
• Last but not least, make sure to shop around to get the best food deals. Don’t be afraid to go to more than one shop to find the best deals and certainly check out the moor market for amazing deals on meat, fruit and vegetables. I’ll be dedicating an entire post to food later on with more in depth tips and some recipes to give you inspiration, so keep an eye out in the next few days for some more information.

I wish you all the best when starting university and am more than willing to answer any questions you have concerning university life and Sheffield as a city. Tweet me at @callford1 or ask me a question on here and I’ll try my hardest to answer any questions or help with any worries you have.

Clarissa x

By Clarissa Allford