Getting out of the military and becoming a student can be a difficult process. Most student veterans have not gone to school in-person in years and to start again can be stressful. One thing that helped me was reaching out to a friend of mine who was in school to ask what materials she recommended for classes. So below I am going to give recommendations on supplies to have and why I found them useful, as well as any specific brands I personally like.
Laptop: This is the first and in my opinion most important product. Invest in a laptop and in my opinion, a good laptop. Last semester only one of my five classes did not require it and this semester all of my classes require it. It is a safe bet that you will use a laptop in 90% of your classes. I have a Apple Macbook, I only went with a Macbook because my brother who is a computer science major and my favorite nerd to get tech advice from recommended it. It is a great laptop but I found it to not be as user friendly as some of the other brands like Dell, HP, or Acer. It also is way more expensive than competing brands. I honestly go back and forth on if I would get another Macbook when this one breaks (also I have had it for four years and it still runs as good as when I bought it).
iPad: I absolutely love having an iPad for school. This is more of an optional one because you could use a laptop for assignments (I use both). When I was in high school, students were issued iPads so I more or less got one because I am very familiar and comfortable doing work on an iPad. I take all my notes on my iPad, I use the app Notability. This app is free (it does have optional add ons you can purchase) and is very user friendly. You can import documents from Canvas (this is the online learning management system my school uses, I know a couple other commonly used ones are Blackboard and Schoology) and then write on them using the pen tool, or add text. You can maneuver around your text or convert handwritten notes to text. I could go on and on, there are so many amazing features Notability has. In addition, there are so many apps you can install on your iPad for school, I highly recommend getting an iPad. They are also more affordable than laptops.
Planner: I have a small planner I write in everyday. I just found one off amazon that had spots for each day as well as a calendar page. I find it really helps me stay on top of my work. In highschool I used to bounce between a digital calendar or just a note on the notes app. Do what works best for you, but somehow/someway I recommend writing down all your homework and exam due dates.
Notebook: I almost never use my notebook but I do think it is important to have it just in case. I did have one class that for the last exam was open notes but only hand written on paper (so I had to rewrite everything). It is just a personal choice for note taking on paper vs electronically.
Pencil case: I bring a pencil case to class everyday. Inside I have multiple pencils (No. 2 is best for scantrons), pens, styluses, and a TI-84 calculator. Again I got most of my materials from amazon but you for sure could get them from most stores. The styluses I use are cheap from amazon, it was a pack of eight and I am currently on number seven they tear so easily. I do not have a recommendation for a good stylus, my friends really like the apple stylus so I think that is what I am going to try next, but it is not the cheapest option.
Headphones/earbuds: Yes it is good to have these for walking to and from class but they can also come in handy for online classes. I have three back to back classes on Monday and Wednesdays, and my second class is an online synchronous zoom class. I do not have time to go to my apartment for that class so I zoom from an on-campus building. Having good headphones or earbuds are so important for online classes. If you can not tell from my previous recommendations I am a big apple supporter so I use AirPods and I love them. I do not own headphones but I have done some research into them as a potential future purchase and have found Beats or Airpods Max to have good reviews. That being said, Airpod Maxs are very expensive and Beats are more affordable so that is something to think about.
Backpack: I have a Northface backpack and I love it. It is a little more expensive than other brands but it is very durable which is why I went with it. I still have my Northface backpack from sophomore year of high school, seven years ago, in great condition which is why I decided to retire that one to my gym bag and get another one for school.
These are the items I would recommend getting before you start the school year. I am not sponsored by any of the brands I listed, they are simply my favorite products that I have found to be worth the money spent on them. I tried to keep this post pretty broad but there are major specific products, so I would suggest doing research on that (an example is my roommate is an interior design major and she found out the first week of school that she needed a gaming computer or one that is compatible with a specific software application they use). I hope this helped! Please leave me any recommendations you have in the comments or message me with any questions, I would love to hear from you all!
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