5 to THRIVE in College: Get Your College Student Ready for a Happy and Thriving Year!
Mayra Kavan,
Away or at home, every college student can have a well-designed space to brag about
While the college scene will certainly look different this year for students across the country due to the current pandemic, it doesn’t mean all bets are off for decking out your college space. And whether that will be at home or in a dorm room or an apartment at school, there is always time to get your college-aged child into decorating and organization mode.
And with the upcoming school year rapidly approaching, there are checklists to be completed by your college student to set up a space to reflect everything they love!
Have a vision and run with it!
Movies and TV shows have provided a clear image of what college CAN look like; however, it is up to your college student to use their creativity and create a living space that is comfortable, while also providing opportunities to remain productive!
Due to the pandemic, many college students will remain home for the semester, continuing their studies from their bedroom. If this sounds like your college student, there are many ways that they can declutter their familiar, childhood bedroom into a space worth bragging about!
In fact, while your child’s first instinct as a new college student may be to fill this space with an overwhelming amount of junk, it is much healthier to jumpstart this transition by decluttering.
Experts agree about the benefits of a clutter-free space and how it can transform our mental health. There is no better time for your college student to make this transition and have a clear vision for their room than today!
Organization is key
With the pandemic on everybody’s mind, it might be difficult for your college student to feel that sense of organizational Zen. An organized space isn’t quite possible without a clear head and a vision to help get the job done.
Organization requires not just the right tools, but the right mindset. In order for your child to turn their home into a haven, it is important to focus on organization in order to ensure success for the entirety of their college career!
If your college student keeps coming to you for ideas on how to stay organized, especially moving forward into this school year, you better let them know that a 1THRIVE Command Center will completely reinvent their college space! With any command center, they are bound to keep their minds and lives organized and in sync. The Henry provides a weekly calendar, a white board to jot down notes and ideas, and a cork board to store important pictures and memories in one perfect space!
Mind your Ps (and the Qs will be answered)
In order for your college student to become the master of their new college domain, make sure they utilize the following ideas and tips to rock their new space, while also providing that perfect place where everyone wants to hang in!
Personality: Personality is key when it comes to amping up your college space. Make sure your child’s space belongs to them and incorporates personality, love, and any important elements that can be attributed back to them.
Your college student can try out a new rug, bring the outdoors in with plants that they can keep alive (no judgment here if your succulent is made out of plastic), or update their bedding to add another pop of color. And don’t forget twinkle lights, everyone needs twinkle lights—that goes for our guys, too. Nothing screams “I’m in a box!” like overhead fluorescent lights.
Purpose: Think about how each element to a dorm room should function. It’s important to keep a simple desk area to complete assignments and study for exams. Especially now, with the current state of the world, libraries may be limited in their capacity. Therefore, your college student might be confined to the four walls of their room when it comes time to completing assignments.
Remember when you were old enough to enter college? You know how your space can go from completely organized one day to a total mess in a matter of hours. Or minutes. If your college student doesn’t believe that their pens, papers, and notes will pile up on their desk and leave it cluttered … make sure they know that they are wrong. It happens to all of us!
P.S. We, of course, have a solution. Our 1THRIVE Center, The Susan, has a spot for pens, papers, and a calendar. Now, your child can add social events – and tests … we totally meant tests. Because with the space your college student will decorate, everything needs to have a purpose.
Productivity: The sweet smell of plastic drawers and under-the-bed organizers—there is nothing else quite like it! But, in all seriousness, sit down with your college student and brainstorm the ways that you can make the best use of the small college space that will lead to the most productivity.
If assembling a functional array of storage containers, furniture with shelves, and a MicroFridge are what it takes to keep you productive and on track, then get to it. These small additions to your dorm room, apartment, or even room at home will do a complete 180 on your child’s life!
Privacy: If your soon-to-be off to college student has lived in their own private bedroom up until this point, college can be a bit of a reality check. Moving into a shared living space with a roommate who your child hardly knows can be a lot to handle; therefore, it is important for them to become accustomed to this new lifestyle and learn to adjust. Of course, we all enjoy our privacy; however, there are ways to still achieve this sense of privacy by creating your own space-within-a-space. If your child is a freshman, suggest that they can hang a sheet or trendy tapestry to create two separate living areas. While this might seem untraditional, some students need their space—and that’s more than OK!
When you start receiving those never-ending phone calls and text messages from your college student regarding complaints about their shared living space, never say you didn’t give them any cool ideas on how to make it work!
Peace: Always remind your children, no matter how young or old they may be, to surround themselves with happiness and peace!
As for your college students who are getting ready to head to school in the upcoming weeks, remind them that while the state of the world is very uncertain with the pandemic, this is their opportunity to find comfort in what they love and what they are passionate about.
If your college student fills their room with things that inspire them, it will only lead to feeling more settled and more secure in their decisions and in their future.
Mentally prepare yourself
The final hug and kiss before you send your child off to college never gets easier. Now is the perfect time to prepare yourself to feel all the feels that every college parent is faced with.
Action, accountability, and accomplishment are the three things that you and your college student should strive for during this new transition through life. While the last goodbye before you leave your child off at their new home is bittersweet, just know that your college student is more than ready for the upcoming year, regardless of the roadblocks that come ahead!
