So you decided to go to a college on the opposite side of the country. One that has four seasons instead of the regular summer and spring that you’re regularly used to. While it may be a magical new experience, there are a lot of things that movies and social media seem to forget to focus on: the cold hard experience of the winter.
Read below to find out five tips that’ll help you from becoming an ice cube this upcoming winter:
1. Your Heater Will Become Your Best Friend.
You know how we have AC back home to keep us cool? Well in the north their equivalent is a heater. While many campuses have heating in dorms, if you’re living off-campus you’ll quickly find out that a heater will be your best tool for surviving the winter.
Depending on the size of your room, the size of the heater you’ll need may vary. You can find a good sized heater between $25-50 on amazon or jet.com. If you have a small room you may also be able to get away with getting a small desktop heater for under $25.
2. Layers Layers Layers
One of the worst thing that can happen to you is getting a cold during the winter. This can happen for many reason, but it mostly comes down to not dressing or sleeping in enough layers.
Back home you may have been able to get away with sleeping with only a thin bed sheet, but in the north you’re going to want to invest in a couple of heavy blankets and comforters. You can usually pick them up from Walmart or Target for $10-15, and some colleges even offer dorm packages that include all the sheets you’ll need.
In terms of clothing, always put on layers that can be easily removed or added, because classrooms will be heated which means you’ll go from a cozy temperature to feeling like you’re in the middle of the desert (or back home).
3. Do Not Try and Copy the Midwest Kids
The biggest mistake you can make is trying to copy your friends that have lived in the winter their entire lives. Especially the ones that live in places that average temperatures below 60 degrees all year round.
If they’re wearing a light jacket, then you need to wearing an undershirt and a puffy jacket. If you ever see them go out in shorts, do not copy them. It will just end up with you shivering while your friends make jokes about how it’s not even cold at all.
Some kids don’t even start wearing winter clothes until it gets to be mid-40’s outside, but remember you grew up in a place where the average temperature is in the mid 80’s.
4. Buy Winter Clothes Early
You can always tell who the freshman are on campus because by the time they realize they’re going to need winter clothes it’s too late. The leaves have already fallen and the temperatures dropping every week.
They end up having to uber or bus to the nearest mall and pay for winter clothes at a premium. Not only can this be a nasty financial surprise, but it could have been completely avoided.
It may not make much sense bringing your winter clothes in the beginning of the year when it’s still sunny out, but trust me you’ll be thankful that you have it available that morning you wake up and realize the temperature has dropped 30 degrees overnight.
Also you can usually pick up winter clothes at a discount during the summer. It’s basic supply and demand.
5. Accessories Are for Survival
Another common mistake is taking your accessories for granted. Gloves and scarves are not optional if you want to survive the winter.
Scarves protect your neck from the cold winter wind and can make the difference between you comfortably walking to class or you wishing that you would have gone to that local state college instead. They can cost between $5-10 for a regular scarf.
Gloves are perhaps an even more important accessory in the winter. Especially since without them you won’t be able to fully enjoy the winter (or do much really). There are even gloves now that allow you to use your smartphone while having them on. They cost anywhere between $15-50 depending on how fancy you want your gloves to be.
