When leaving home and moving into a dorm, there are a few must-pack items on students’ lists — things that remind them of home and keep them grounded.
From a photo of an unforgettable vacation to a stuffed animal from someone special or their comfiest blanket, these items represent who students are and how far they’ve come. Whether these items help them get through a hard day or are just something nice to look at, they help students turn their dorms into a home away from home.
Before leaving for college, Miles Butler, a freshman marketing major from Brooklyn, New York, was gifted a few Funko Pops by his brother. While he could have taken any Marvel or anime character, there were two that stood out to him: his favorite characters from “Yu-Gi-Oh!”
The moment he saw them, he said he was transported back to a simpler time when he and his brother would play the game together as kids. He brought them with him as a reminder of those special moments he shared with his brother.
“You don’t want your resting place to feel foreign to you. Bring what is important to you, not just what is aesthetic,” he said.
While he doesn’t play the game anymore, he credits Yu-Gi-Oh! with helping him be technical and creative.
To mark the places they’ve been, some use pictures; others use postcards. Asada Radford, a sophomore political science major from Nashville, Tennessee, uses matchboxes.
While this just started as a random box of matches she took from a restaurant, she said, it grew into an extensive collection, signifying her stops in life. Each matchbox has a story behind it, including her first solo trip to Boston, her family trip to Spain and the last moments she spent with her younger brother before leaving for Howard.
She found leaving home hard. Moving to a new city and starting at a new school meant navigating unfamiliar surroundings by herself. Her matchboxes served as a catalog of memories to look back on. She found comfort in them as a reminder that she has done difficult and scary things in the past and prevailed.
Will Ponder, a sophomore psychology major from New Jersey, comes from a family of artists; his father is a painter and his mother makes quilts.
His mom uses her gifts only for her loved ones, so she gave him a quilt before leaving for college. Every time she finishes a quilt, his mom brings it out to show the whole family. Moments like that “really bring the family together,” he said, noting that it’s just one of the ways his family shows their love.
Bringing him back to the love, he is always a fan of his mother’s work, and having something personalized for him makes it special.
Ponder said he will keep the quilt for life.
On Valentine’s Day in 2020, Laila Legrand, a sophomore health management major from Brooklyn, New York, received a blanket from her mom.
Her stepfather was supposed to take her out that day but later canceled. In a moment of feeling alone, the blanket helped her cope. She instantly made it her comfort item, bringing it everywhere she went. On her first plane ride by herself, on her trips and of course to college.
“This is the first thing I would take out of a burning house,” she said.
Having the blanket with her at school reminds her of her mother’s love and is a testament to their relationship.
“Howard is stressful; as long as you bring something that will give you that peace, you will make it through,” said Legrand.
Legrand said the blanket’s meaning will never be lost to her and she hopes to pass it down to her own daughter one day.
When she was born, Sadè Kasay, a sophomore psychology major from Wisconsin, was given a stuffed pig by her mom.
“I don’t think there’s been a point growing up where I haven’t had it,” said Kasay.
She said when she was sad, she would cry into the pig and everything would feel better because it would absorb her tears.
Last year, when her family could not come down to visit her, having her pig nearby helped her to cope, she said. It connected her back to her family and those happy memories. It’s a physical reminder of the ones she holds close and their love for her.
Keeping her pig is non-negotiable, and she hopes to show her own children one day something that meant so much to her.
During move-in, Bryson Temple, a sophomore computer science major from St. Louis, Missouri, received a family photo from his mom as a gift from his last summer vacation before college.
He keeps it by his bedside as motivation.
Because his family is geographically dispersed, they can’t see each other as often as they would like, Temple said. As the youngest, Temple is seen as the “baby,” so this picture represents his family acknowledging that he is finally growing up.
Having this photo keeps his family in his corner, literally and figuratively, he said.
Copy edited by Daryl R. Thomas Jr.