Most college students go through lists of recommended dorm necessities, pack them all up, and once at school feel confident that they are ready for anything.

That is until they cut themselves and realize they don't have a Band-aid or until the fried onions they had on a hamburger keep them up half the night with reflux because they don't have any Tums. The number one item most often forgotten is actually composed of many items: a first-aid kit.

Rather than buying one premade with someone else's idea of first aid items, put your own together. Get a plastic see-through box with a tight fitting lid and fill it with everything from sore throat lozenges to anti-fungal cream. Take a few minutes to think of the "over the counter" items you pull out of the medicine chest or other cabinets for everyday health problems: cough drops, cortisone cream, Vaseline, Tylenol PM or Extra Strength Excedrin, antihistamines, cough syrups, a small ace bandage for slight sprains or a sore wrist from typing, ice pack or nose drops.

Usually when you need the items above you do not feel like walking to a drug store or the college health center so keep them with you in your room but look out, half the dorm will be at your door asking for one of these items if they know you have them.

The second set of items most often needed but seldom packed doesn't come in a kit, but are related by the fact you reach for them often if at home - but don't think to pack them for times when you aren't home, like college or vacations.

Scissors, tweezers, a ruler, measuring tape, spools of thread and needles, duct tape, scotch tape, glue or paste, a small screwdriver, and batteries for all your possessions that need them like wireless mouses or cameras or radios.

These items will help you keep things together that once were connected. For example you can hem your skirt, repair your glasses, fix a ripped page in a book, glue an insole back into a shoe, keep your broken pocketbook strap together and generally fix most of your every day problems.

The last set of items most often overlooked by the college student is paper, envelopes and stamps. Not everyone has an email, nor a cell phone and some people you might want to contact; maybe a grandmother or great aunt can best be contacted by mail.

And, while you are putting your mail kit together, think about greeting cards and buy them before you leave for school so you have them to send to the special people in your life.

Also, include your address book if necessary, and have the phone numbers you need to know packed with you too.

All three sets of items most missed by college students are just little things, but little things do mean a lot when you are away from home.

Learn more about this author, Tierney O'Hara.
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