10 things you brought to uni that you're never going to use

CDs/DVDs

I have no idea why I brought DVDs in first year. I didn’t watch any of them. I spent much more time watching TV shows and films on the Internet. You will too. On the other hand, if you bring CDs with you I’m going to assume you’re from the 90s and have accidentally time travelled. Hope the world isn’t too confusing for you.

A door wedge

‘Bring a door wedge! Make friends!’ If you’re an antisocial grump like me, this will be another of those things gathering dust on the shelf. Chances are, your really good friends will just walk in anyway, door open or not.

A torch

This is always on packing lists of essentials to take to uni. I’m not saying torches aren’t useful… but seriously, when have you needed to use one in your day-to-day life at university? We’re well into the 21st century now, phones tend to have torches, you’ll be okay.

A printer

Now this one is slightly iffy. Printers do seem like a great idea. However, unless you have found the Holy Grail of printers, yours is probably going to have a mental breakdown as soon as the cyan ink goes below 90% full and will refuse to print anything at all. Then, until you remember to replace the ink, you have a useless large bulky object taking up space in your room. If I sound bitter, that’s because I am. Use the library instead.

Shorts

Sadly, this is Lancaster. Unless you have a very high tolerance to cold you are most likely never going to even glance at those short shorts you packed while lying to yourself about the weather.

(Fiction) Books

I hate myself for putting this on the list. Please don’t take this the wrong way. I love books. I think everyone should read all the time. But the fact is, they are heavy, they’re going to take up a lot of room, and you probably won’t have that much time for reading what with all the work/partying/sleeping you’re going to be doing.

Recipe books

Large, bulky, heavy, and pointless. The Internet exists for a reason, and that reason is to find recipes that seem like a good idea at the time (if you’re not just going to have toast for a week).

Glasses

This is almost certainly just me, but mugs seem like a superior vessel for every liquid. Tea, water, wine, everything. I have a lot of sad dusty glasses now.

A potato masher

One of those 'useful' bits of kit that your mum gets you and you promptly ignore. This is in the same vein as the blender – for some reason I’ve taken a potato masher with me every year for three years and so far I still haven’t used it. Just use a fork.

A blender

Do you really need this? It’s a lovely idea that you’re going to have ridiculously healthy smoothies and juices for breakfast every day but this is just one of those things that never happens in practice. Now you have a useless appliance taking up valuable space in your precious cupboards! Congrats!

Bonus! Three things you forget to take to uni that you really need:
1. Extension lead (you will soon be wishing you had more than three plug sockets)
2. Umbrella/mac (come on, it’s Lancaster)
3. Alarm clock (the most essential. Phones don’t really cut it, they can lose battery easily)

Having said all this… my potato masher has still made it to Lancaster. I’m definitely going to use it this year.

Unfortunately, we have lost track of who originally wrote this article, as it did not have any author information..

Note: This post was migrated from the old SCAN website. Some formatting or media may not display correctly.