NOW WHERE DID I PUT THAT?

  Generally, college students aren’t fully prepared to organize the “stuff” in their lives. Dorm rooms can quickly get over-run with clothes, books, computers, CD’s, DVD’s, television sets, completed papers, half-completed papers, and the other effects of the college student’s life.

Maybe you’re still living at home in the same room you’ve been in since you were a child. You still need to make room for the new trappings of college life. Or if you’re a non-traditional student, trying to merge college supplies in with children’s toys and pots and pans can be overwhelming. Try a few of these great organization tips.

 If you want to effectively use your time, designate certain spaces for certain things. You have the tools – desk, dresser, bookshelf. What you need from the store is a few supplies. Colored file folders, a portable plastic file holder, a penholder, some colored binders, a 3-hole punch, and a few small bins should get you started. You can alter your plan – and probably will – as you decide exactly what is right for you and what works best.

 Designate one color for each class and store pending assignments in them as you work on them. Place these folders inside the plastic holder. Be sure to write on the tab which class each is for to ease identification. You can also use the file folder approach to store important papers and receipts. If the bursar needs to see your birth certificate, you want to make sure you can get hold of it quickly.

 The colored binders are used for each class to store all papers you receive in that class. As we talked about earlier, you will get a syllabus – put this in the front. Then, whenever you get a handout from your professor, punch it and place it in the binder. Use section dividers to label what information is contained in which section. You should also keep completed assignments in this binder for easy referral and in case your instructor “loses” one of your grades – then you can prove you did the work!