The most necessary item for surviving your freshman year is simple: A warm winter jacket. Seems obvious right? Wrong. You would be shocked at how many people I met who came to college in WISCONSIN without a jacket.
If you live in the midwest, then you know how brutal the winters can be, but if you don’t, you’re in for an unpleasant surprise.
During fall semester we are blessed with about eight to ten weeks of gorgeous weather. After that, you never know when it’s going to snow. I’m not kidding. It will be 60 degrees one day, and snowing the next! Watching my friends run though the snow in sweatshirts was truly so sad.
But here’s the thing: How do you pick the perfect jacket? Well first, it has to be warm. Winter in Madison can get below zero degrees fahrenheit. Your jacket also shouldn’t be too chunky and cumbersome because after your icy walk to class, you’ll have to cram yourself, your jacket and your backpack into your tiny seating space next to 300 of your best friends.
You’re also going to want to get a coat with some king of identifying symbol or color on it. I had a plain black coat, and so did seemingly everyone else on campus. Getting a coat that is easy to pick out from the crowd will save you so much time sifting through coats at crowded places.
The value of a good versatile jacket seems often overlooked, but I promise it is a purchase you won’t regret.
