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Four Items to Remember When Bringing Your Car to College

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Textbooks aren’t the only items to include on your back-to-college checklist

Bringing a car with you to college certainly has its advantages. You don’t have to rely on mom and dad to come pick you up for break. When laziness or chilly weather gets the best of you, you can drive to class to avoid a dreaded walk across campus. Late-night drive-thru runs with friends are always an option, although maybe not always the best for your wallet. Regardless of what you plan to do with your car on campus, here are a few key items that you should make sure you have packed away, just in case.

Jumper Cables

A scenario: you drive back to campus after visiting home for the weekend, and, while unpacking your car, you turn on the cabin light so you can see a little easier. After you’re finished, you forget to turn off that cabin light, and the next time you try to start your car a few days later, you find the battery to be completely and utterly dead. What do you do next? Well, if you’ve never dealt with a dead car battery before, you might realize you don’t have jumper cables and start making frantic calls and texts to see if a friend can help you out. Case in point: bring jumper cables. You never know when you, or a friend-in-need, are going to make a silly mistake and wind up with a dead battery.


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Ice Scraper

Depending on where your campus is located, you may be dealing with some icy weather come winter time. If that’s the case, you’re going to want to have an ice scraper on hand to help clear those windows so you’re not waiting forever for them to defrost and end up late to class. An ice scraper with a snow brush on the other end is especially beneficial, and there are plenty of low-priced options out there.

First Aid Kit

Although packing a first aid kit may seem a tad unnecessary, or just something your mom may keep nagging you to bring, it’s honestly a pretty convenient item to have on hand. Going on an impromptu hike with friends is all fun and games until someone accidentally cuts their leg. Knowing that you have a supply of bandages, antiseptic wipes, and other helpful materials can be a minor relief when tiny mishaps present themselves.


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Loose Change

Parking can often be a pain on college campuses, especially when meters are involved. Parking enforcement officers, or “meter maids” as they’re often dubbed, can be some of the most loathed people on campus due to their ability to stick cars with parking tickets mere minutes after the meter times out. So next time you pay for something in cash and get some change in return, put those coins away in a bag or cup in your car. Then you can keep a collection of loose change on hand when you need to feed the meter. Just be sure to always put a little extra change in the meter for more minutes than you think you may need, just in case.

So while you may already be worrying about what to bring for your dorm or apartment, don’t forget to have your car packed properly as well! As long as you have those above items and a somewhat decent sense of direction, you should be all set.