Four years ago, after waving goodbye to my family from my new dorm at the University of the Pacific, I realized I was missing a lot of the most important items I needed. The list of recommendations the university had sent before I arrived was simply not complete. When I made my own list of items to bring to college, I had all the usual things on it–items I would normally bring on a long trip. Yeah, right–a long trip where I would need to bring my entire bedroom!
Here are a few other items I added (in order of importance):
Household
Bedding: Most college dorm room beds are twin–extra long! That means new sheets, because the school does not provide you with bedding. They do give you a dresser, desk, and chair, but everything else is up to you.
Telephone: There was a phone in the hallway, but it’s great to have your own. The phone service I chose was a flat-rate program that allowed me to make as many local calls as I wanted per month. You may not know anyone yet, but in a week or two, you will!
Computer/printer: Schools generally have computer labs, but who wants to go there at 11:30PM when you’ve just remembered that your opera literature paper is due in the morning?
Mini-fridge (I rented mine from the school for $40 for the whole year) and mini-microwave: While not essential, these two little appliances will keep you on top of things when it comes to late-night study sessions–when you absolutely have to have a bag of popcorn and a cold drink to keep you going.
Clothes!
A lot of singers prefer to look the part and dress like they are going to a business meeting every day. That’s great practice for the real world, but I preferred to be comfortable. If you haven’t visited the school you will be attending, make sure to find out about the weather.
I also like to dress up a little for my voice lessons. It adds an air of professionalism and shows a lot of respect for your teacher.
Your school should have laundry facilities in each dorm. But if you think about how busy you will be (VERY busy), and how many other people need to use the machines, you’ll be sure to have enough clothes to make it through a couple of weeks without heading to Target in your bathrobe. By the way, don’t forget to bring your bathrobe; some colleges have coed floors.
You will need a variety of outfits for performing. At UOP, we had a mandatory solo class every Friday? where everyone in the conservatory got together and performed for each other. Women wore a daytime recital dress–no sequins or glitter. For example, they might choose a simple, classy calf-length dress that wouldn’t take attention away from the voice. Men wore a shirt and You will more than likely be in the choir for at least a couple of years, if not more. People balk at being in the choir, but it gives you many opportunities to sing choral solos with an orchestra–and it’s fun. If your school or conservatory doesn’t require a choir uniform, you’ll almost certainly need a basic black dress or tuxedo. This will be an extremely valuable part of your wardrobe for many years to come. For choir, you don’t want to stand out too much, unless you are the soloist. Stay away from glitter, spaghetti straps, checkered cummerbunds, and dresses that don’t let you lean over!
Save the really fun dresses for your junior and senior recitals. Most importantly, make sure to be tasteful. Not sure? Think about whether you want to be remembered as the one who wore the fluorescent orange and purple sparkle outfit or the one with the gorgeous voice.
Other
For your dressing room bag: cotton balls, Q-tips, baby wipes, sewing kit, change, tissues, make-up kit, pencils, opening night note cards, business cards
Portable music stand
Tuning fork or pitch pipe
Metronome with tuner
Keyboard (Practice rooms have a tendency to be full at the only time you are able to practice that day)
Stereo and headphones (If you can, contact your roommate to coordinate what you both will bring. This will save you from a room with two microwaves, two huge stereos…)
Book light
Tape recorder for your lessons and plenty of blank tapes
Anthologies, opera scores, or art song books you’ve been working on
Language dictionaries, if you already have them
Once you get to school, you should do some checking around to get important locations and phone numbers. This includes the health center, campus police, a local hospital, dry cleaner, and the best pizza place that delivers and has discount coupons for students. Remember to have your subscriptions changed and your prescriptions transferred to a local pharmacy.
Go to your new school with an open mind and a positive attitude. If you go thinking you’re going to have a terrible time and that this will never work out, chances are it won’t. But if you go with a curious and friendly attitude, people will warm up to you (and vice versa), and you’ll realize that everyone is just as freaked out about this whole college thing as you are. It’s all right to be freaked out. Just don’t let it consume you. Go to learn, make friends and colleagues, and to begin perfecting your art. And don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. If you really want something, you can make it happen.
