I don't how your parents decided to do it, but my parents decided that once we move out, our room becomes something else. They have this plan of what the house will become as each of us leaves home. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally in support of that, it doesn't bother me in the least to not have a room at home. I'm not using it, so they might as well, but what hit me hard was the packing I had to do.
Packing a room to move and store is not like packing for a trip. I can throw a bunch of clothes for a week in a suitcase in about fifteen minutes and be ready for just about anything. But packing a room is a whole 'nother ballgame; it involves careful, longterm thinking. As pretty much everyone knows, apartment rooms, and especially dorm rooms, are smaller than your average household bedroom. A lot smaller. When packing, you must think about everything twice and truly decide what you will and will not use over the next several years, because every centemeter counts in a dorm room. I mean really, there is only so much stuff you can cram into half a 12' x 19' room and not feel completely claustrophobic when you enter! Basically, you can probably fit about five-six* boxes worth of stuff, not including clothes and bedding, comfortably into a dorm room. The question now becomes: what can you fit into five or six boxes.
I personally had so much trouble with this question that I gave up entirely and simply packed anything I thought I might need over the next four years. Unfortunately, this left me with around ten boxes which I then had to resort later, when I moved in. I took more to college with me than I left at home in storage...and that wasn't the brightest idea I had ever had, to say the least.
So now we come to this: what I wish I had known then that I know now. Someone should have taken me They should have told me that I really wouldn't use all the books I brought or all the random school papers I thought I might reference. I haven't even unpacked four of the boxes and I feel no need to. If I could do this over again, I wouldn't have brought all the pictures I did, for there isn't room on the walls for them; I would not have kept so many worn down clothes out of personal attachment. I would have stored more than I packed, and this is the rule of thumb I would give to incoming freshmen.
I heard it said that college a place to start over. I've also been told that while you change in college, you should still be the same self you've been all your life, with maybe a few additions that make you better. I would say to new freshmen, as I stand on the other side of the move-in process, that all you really need are the essentials: clothes, hobbies, and maybe a few heirlooms, but that is it. Everything else, pack it. If you find that after a year you really wish you had it and can't make do without, then you have permission to bring it to college with you. It may seem extreem to leave so much behind, and your room may seem bare for the first year, but if you get involved the way you should, that empty space will soon be filled with the things that have made you grow and develope in new and exciting ways. In a way, college is a new start; you need bring only who you are right now. Don't forget the past, don't sell everything you own, but store it away as documentation of how you got to where you are and face the next stage in your life with a blank slate. You will fill it up with joys, regrets, excitement, and everything under the sun soon, but it is okay to start with less than you previously had.
I think if I had known this, it wouldn't have taken a month and a half to pack. It may still take a few weeks, but if all you're doing is packing storage boxes, it goes much faster than if you, like me, spend an inordinate amount of time deciding what will come and what will stay and then trying to get it all to fit in fewer boxes so it doesn't look like you brought a lot. Set out five boxes and start putting the essentials in them; if there's room later, you can add a few extra items meaningful to you, but don't bring something unless you feel extremely attached to it or you are certain you will use it within three months.
College is a huge adventure, an amazing journey, and a trial of yourself all in one. Don't make it harder on yourself by bringing a lot of baggage with you when you start.
*Numbers are arbitrary, and can vary depending on the size of your boxes and how much shelving is present in the room.
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