We asked one of our ImOn intern, a recent college grad, to share some ideas on key devices they would recommend for college students.-

College is your child’s first step into adulthood, they’re away from their family for the first time, and they have to start worrying about classes, future jobs and the worst… student loans. While technology can’t solve all those problems… it can help them ease into their future. Here are some key devices to help get them through college:

• Flash drive-If you don’t have your own printer, you will have to walk to campus to find a computer that is connected to a printer. To do this, you will have to save all of your documents on a flash drive to switch them to a different computer. A flash drive is also important to save extra copies of papers on. You don’t want an assignment to be due then have it magically disappear and you have no more copies.
• Printer-To help ease the struggle of roaming around campus trying to find a computer solely to print something out, you can just get your own. A lot of school stress comes from running around trying to print a project off at the last minute so, this makes life a lot easier. However, if your dorm is small and there are only a couple of outlets, this might not be the best option.
• Hot Spot-Colleges and universities typically provide free public Wi-Fi or Internet service. But that also means that every student is on it. If you want a better connection and less worry about your computer freezing when you have a project that’s due tomorrow, a hot spot will come in handy.
• Laptop – This one is a given. Yes, colleges have computer labs but they are almost always full and it becomes more difficult to keep track of everything if you save it on your drive or desktop. I preferred to work on my own laptop. Laptops also give you the freedom to work on projects anywhere you want. You can also use them to take notes during class.
• Laptop cooling pad-It is so tempting for students just to sit in bed and do homework or watch Netflix. But, laptops aren’t made to do this. Batteries can get hot and could burn your legs or, worst case scenario, they have been known to start fires when laptops overheat when laying on a bed. Cooling pads help diminish that possibility.
• Extra-long phone charger-This is extremely helpful when you’re sleeping in the top bunk. Any regular charger will simply not reach from the outlet to the top bunk. This will make your life so much easier.
• Battery powered phone charger- When you’re in college, you are running around constantly. Sometimes you forget your phone charger or don’t have an outlet near you. That’s when a battery powered phone charger comes in handy.
• Wireless Noise-cancelling headphones-Surprisingly, this will help you focus when studying. It drowns out all the noises around you so you are just focused on what you have in front of you.
• Amazon Echo-This was truly great for me. It doesn’t just play music, you can ask Alexa any questions you have, like what the weather is. That way you know how to dress for the long trek across campus. You can also play games like jeopardy!
• Fitbit-Everyone has heard of the dreaded “freshman 15”. It is easy to gain weight with the different eating and drinking routines and constantly sitting in classes. So, it’s important to stay active in college. It can also be used as a sleep tracker. It can track how well and how long you sleep. There’s always the dreaded all-nighters in college but when you can, it’s important to make sure you’re getting enough sleep especially before a big exam.
• E-reader-Textbooks are super heavy and lugging them around campus can cause problems. If you have a laptop, an E-reader might not be necessary. But, it is light and smaller than a laptop and you can still download all of your books and textbooks. Plus, it might encourage kids to read more since everything is easily downloadable.