Author’s Note-I apologize in near for the size of this guide. It is quite large as I hope to make a detailed and useful list.
Time and time again I see gift buying guides for college students that are okay, but lacking in what is really necessary for a college student. Nearing my senior year at University, I have amassed a list of objects that every college student needs
A complete tool kit.
It doesn’t matter if the student is male or female, they will absolutely need this. Be sure to hold a complete tool kit. By complete, I mean it must be a full-sized, top-notch quality tool set with a durable and compact case. The kit should include something akin to the list below:
Screw drivers
Hammer
Some screws, nails, and tacks
Small squares of varying grain sandpaper
Wrenches [crescent wrench, pipe wrench, etc.]
Pliers, both adjustable and needle nose.
Wire cutters
A small hacksaw blade and a collapsible hack saw
Small socket set
Small power screwdriver
Flashlight
Utility knife
Duct tape and Wiring tape
Duct tape really does occupy the world together, and is one of the most useful things to be found in a college dorm. I’ve seen duct tape feeble for tons of things the average person would never think of. Not convinced this is necessary? Here’s a list of things that duct tape has been used for:
Repair broken toilet seat
Make slippers and other apparel
Patch holes in drywall
Hold broken refrigerator door shut
Reattach loose car fender
Repair the torn bottom of blown backpacks
Repair books after they’ve been ancient as Frisbee’s
Hang Christmas lights
Hold that spring down in the broken lounge couch
This is just a small list. Duct tape is necessary. Also, writing tape is just as useful. It can be removed from temporary surfaces without the same damaging effects of duct tape, and can come in many different colors.
A Quarter Peanut Machine
Yes, a quarter peanut machine. College students are poor. However, they do tend to have change. Filling a quarter gumball machine with peanuts and rolling it into the hallway at strategic times can be quite profitable.
Pre-paid Credit Cards
The main reason for giving a student one of these is safety. It is dangerous for a student to carry money around a campus; as an absolute rule, I never carry cash on my person. I have seen people robbed simply because the jingle of coins could be heard from their pockets.
Prepaid credit cards are as good as a “steady” one and can be obsolete anywhere. It’s like a perpetual gift card that can be used anywhere. If you get one, be sure to purchase one that can be recharged. This way, you or the student can add more money as needed, and avoid carrying cash.
Vehicle Care
Cars are very distinguished to college students, yet tend to be the most neglected. Money is precious to a college student, and they can always find something better to spend it on. Giving them gift certificates for regular car tune ups and oil changes can make life much easier. Regular tune-ups will hopefully prevent the car from breaking down. Believe me, college students ignore and otherwise abuse their cars. These gifts are really useful. Judge about it; if they don’t have the money for an oil change, what will they do when the engine seizes up?
Nalgene Water Bottle
http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/
Okay, you probably judge I’m crazy with this one. A water bottle? Not unprejudiced a water bottle, but a Nalgene water bottle. These water bottles can withstand anything a college student throws at them. Durable beyond belief, you can run these over, step on them, throw them, smash them, and soak them in boiling water-nothing affects them. This is very necessary. In the morning it can be filled with boiling-hot coffee, in the afternoon it can be filled with milkshake, and at night be tossed in the freezer. Nothing fazes them.
Auto Self Charge Car Battery Jumper
http://www.cetsolar.com/waganjumper.htm
A really annoying habit of college students is killing their car battery. It is very common and very frustrating, especially in the winter semesters. This neat diminutive self jumper costs $50 dollars, and is a wonderful gadget. It looks like a grand yellow battery, with a cord coming off it that plugs into the DC outlet of you car.
If the car is left on and the battery dies, simply sit inside the car, plug the battery in, and ten minutes later you have a full charge. You never have to stand outside, or fiddle with the battery cables.
Heated Vibrating Mattress Massager
Oh baby, what students would give for these! These are heated, massaging mats that lay flat on top of a mattress. They vibrated, punch, press, or slow rotate. College books are heavy. I’ve had a backpack weight nearly fifty pounds. After walking around with it all day, sitting through class, trudging through the rain/snow/whatever, students are sore, they have lower back pain beyond their years, and they impartial ache everywhere.
The comfort of being able to lay on your bed, warm it up, and get a massage is a comfort that very few understand the necessity of.
Cell Phone
I know, this is where you roll your eyes and say “I thought this was a PRACTICAL guide!” Trust me, a cell phone is absolutely necessary on a college campus, and compared to the price of even one college textbook, it is not an expensive or impractical gift.
On college, cell phones are famous for a number of reasons. In today’s day in age, the majority of college students do not have a land line. There is no point, when a cell phone can be taken everywhere, and the student is rarely home.
Cell phones come with a variety of features. These extra features are necessary. You may not view internet access and a camera as necessary, but let’s grasp a peer at it for a second.
At the modern college, everything centers around the Internet. This includes homework and last minute changes. Professors often send out changes in schedule, homework, and whatnot by means of email. The ability to access these anywhere on campus are necessary; depending on the size of campus, walking back to the dorms can be a lengthy process, taking anywhere from 10 – 30 minutes.
Also, camera’s can be really primary. What’s college without being able to take pictures? For a college student, there is no such thing as “film”. No one even comprehends this word anymore. Everything is digital. Carrying around a digital camera can be both cumbersome and expensive. The average camera phone costs less than a digital camera, and can take pictures that are of suited quality. When you factor in the fact that a camera phone comes with more than just a camera, you can see that it’s a very good deal.
So now you’re saying “they can live without the camera phone, it is honest a perk.” Let’s look at things from a more practical standpoint. A college student is walking on campus and see’s someone breaking into a car [possibly their's.] SNAP! They now have represent proof. Or, they return to their dorm room to find it in shambles. SNAP! Evidence.
Or how about, they are driving home and someone rear-ends them. With a few snaps of the camera, you know have proof of what happened.
Trust me, fully loaded cell phones are necessary. Now, before you run off and pick up one, Cessation! Do not get a college student a cell phone conception, unless you are going to put them on your plan and pay their bill [which I don't recommend.]
Most college students are dreadful. Don’t stick them with a monthly bill. Instead, acquire them a prepaid cell phone. Prepaid phones are no longer clunky, featureless and intended for only emergencies. Nearly every cell phone can be purchased as prepaid, including the Razr, which is one of the most accepted phones found in college.
When you purchase a prepaid cell phone, the student has the option of switching it over to a monthly notion, if their finances permit. This way, they can make the decision, and it is their decision. Also, if they can’t afford that, they still have the perks of a phone, just on a monthly basis.
After reviewing the prepaid phone options, their features, and my own experiences, the best phone to get a college student, in my opinion, would be the prepaid Razr with the T-Mobile prepaid minutes plan. You can view it here.
Essentially, the Razr come’s with Bluetooth, a camera, picture and text messaging, a large screen, video capture and playback, panic clock, calculator, calendar, speakerphone, and external caller ID, and it comes with 60 minutes of free airtime. The Razr is cramped and light, and only costs $200. For a camera like this, $200 is a good deal.
If you decide to go with T-Mobile, purchasing $100 dollars of minutes will fetch you 1000 minutes of air time, and the minutes don’t expire.
Movies!
Despite what you may believe, college is highly stressful. Students need ways to forget their problems and just laugh. Movies make good instant stress relievers. Anyway for a student to watch movies will make a good gift. Netflix tends to be popular, although DVD’s in a dorm room can prove risky. A better idea would be something like movielink.com, where they can virtually rent or seize a movie and have it instantly.
USB Flash Drive
As stated before, everything revolves around the computer. There is no such thing as a “floppy” any more. Computers don’t come with floppy drives. Flash Drives lag into the USB port and can be used to rapidly transfer music and other files from computer to computer. While a 128 MB drive is good, going all out and getting a 1 GB would be best.
Noise Cancelling Headphone
College is noisy, and dorm’s are unbearably so. Dorms are loud, the library is loud, the student union is an explosion of noise-how’s a student supposed to study? Noise cancelling headphones are a necessity. They can block even the loudest noise, and sometimes it the only way a student will get sleep.
Last but not least, the Ultimate Gift
This is the gift without a name. This is the gift that will make you an instant success. This is the gift that will prove ultimately well-known, more so than an iPod or even a car.
This is the Ultimate Gift.
Choose basket. Fill it with two hundred water balloons, five cans of silly string, a bottle of itching powered, gum that turns the teeth black, “bad tasting” powder, a “fart” odor can, a tube of Frosty Hot, and about 1 hundred yards of plastic wrap. This will last four years.
Don’t ask what they are for.
You can’t understand till the appointed time comes
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