Applying, choosing and arriving at a college may be one of the most stressful things you can go through. The only thing that may beat the stress of moving in is the stress of staying. Friends, mentors and family members try to make things easier by handing down their advice and suggestions, and while your loved ones may mean well, there are three myths that you definitely should not listen to…

Don’t keep food in your room because it will help you avoid the Freshman Fifteen

“Bad idea!” freshman Marisa Carafelli said. Carafelli found that Convo’s hours were not always able to suit her schedule, and if she was ever hungry after seven 7 p.m., she had to raid a vending machine or drive to get fast food.

The vending machines at Ashland University do not carry carrots or broccoli, and even a fast food salad is not as healthy as one would like to believe, plus let’s face it, if you are going out at 11 p.m., you won’t be buying a salad anyway. It’s late at night, all you will want is something slathered in cheese or sour cream.

What does work

Keep light snacks like apples, baked chips, pretzels, cheese sticks and granola bars in your room for emergency snackage. When you are pulling an all-nighter, you will need food to keep you awake and going. You will also need breakfast for

those days when your alarm fails to ring and you are running late.

“I keep cereal and breakfast bars in my room for quick on-the- go breakfasts,” sophomore Jennifer Holderman said. If you do want to order a pizza or something like that, only eat what you can and then leave the rest in its box out in the lobby. This way you are less likely to eat it all, and your fellow floor- mates will gladly gobble it up.

You must organize EVERYTHING

Students are often instructed to bring several different organizers to college. Many of these ideas include large white boards or wall calendars that can be hung up above a desk or near a dresser. Unfortunately, students often find that these do not work. This is because most students find it more practical to carry a small planner with them, so that as soon as dates are given out they can record them in their planner. AU gives free planners to the freshmen, and upperclassmen continue to buy them because they are so useful. It becomes silly to write down dates and events in a planner while in class, and then walk back to your dorm room and recopy it onto your wall planner. Besides, re-writing is just another way you will get carpal tunnel before you are thirty.

“I hate writing [events] in two places,” Holderman said.

What does work

“Post-Its!” Holderman practically shouted. Junior Emily Day agrees. Day’s desk has a large pad of Post-Its that sit to the right of her laptop. As soon as she receives any type of e-mail, newsletter or calendar event of importance, she writes it down on her Post-Its. Her planner holds everything; her Post-Its just provide small reminders. They are great for a quick shopping lists and directions. She also uses them to leave her friends notes, some- times saying have a good week and sometimes saying things that are not fit to print. These also come in handy for reminders and friendly hellos that you may want to stick on your dorm door or your friends’ doors.

You need a microwave

While you may just be having fun making your parents buy you anything and everything, do not buy a microwave. Almost all residence halls have microwaves on every floor, and the ones that don’t still have microwaves located on their bottom floors. If you truly can’t walk the fifteen steps to the micro- wave on your floor then you are in trouble. That means you won’t make it to the bathroom either.

What does work

What you may want in your dorm room is a coffee maker. Junior Cassie Baird owns a Keurig, which is an individual coffee maker.

“It’s easy to use, there are a lot of flavors (including different coffees, cappuccinos, cold drinks, teas and hot chocolate), and there’s less mess than a real coffee pot because it brews right into your cup and it’s way cheaper than Starbucks,” Baird said.

The drinks only take about five minutes to make and the machine is not very loud at all, which your roommate will appreciate. When you are done, just throw the empty package away and it’s ready to go again. No cleaning is required.

Students also want freshmen to be warned about the following: al- ways carry a small umbrella, bring some type of shoe storage with you, don’t buy a lock box, don’t wear your lanyard around your neck and do not wear a high school letterman jacket around campus.