0006 University Student Essential Everyday Carry

Apr 13

The Brief:

Welcome back Ladies and Gentlemen to the Architecture Student Diaries where it is my mission to help you kill it in Architecture school whilst making you, the best you in the process. The following post is the third in the ‘Architecture School Essentials’ series centred around essential items that will assist in making your life as a student as simple as possible. We have already gone over architecture school specific every day carry (EDC) in posts 0004/5 and in this post, I will be providing you with a list of EDC that applies to just about every university or college student regardless of their discipline. This is not a generic list, each item on this list should be with you every day in order to get the most out of your studies. Remember that you don’t need to have the most expensive of everything to be successful, university is about applying yourself and being consistent regardless of if you are taking notes on a brand-new iPad Pro or on a home-brand notepad.

The essential items I will be discussing today are shown below in no particular order of importance:

Backpack or Large Handbag
Smart Phone
Laptop and Laptop Case
Water Bottle
Portable Charger
Headphones
Bluetooth Speaker
Notepad and Pen
Sunglasses
Umbrella
Miscellaneous items

Now, let’s get into it. Class is now in session.

Backpack and Large Handbag

Something that you won’t be able to get through a day at university without is a bag of some sort. Whether it is to hold your laptop, your tablet, your notepad or your lipstick you will need to carry some form of a bag, but that’s okay because there are almost more options for backpacks for university students than there are university students! Bags can range from very small for someone who only carries a tablet and small belongings to very large for someone like an architecture student who is carrying a gaming laptop, A0 sized plans, 3 physical models and half a burrito from dinner last night. Bags also range from very cheap and basic, to very expensive Italian leather with built in butlers, well maybe not a real butler, but for the price they may as well throw one in… As a university student though, I assume we will be looking towards the cheaper end of the spectrum. But don’t fear because there is a near endless amount of functional, stylish and affordable bags for you to choose from, the main challenge you face is choosing the right one for your needs and aesthetic pleasure. One important thing to remember is though, do your research on bags because quality varies greatly and the bag that your friend studying law loves won’t necessarily fit in all of the things you need to carry for architecture school.

Image a: Bellroy Studio Backpack, Bellroy

Smart Phone

This is quite an obvious essential to put on the list, but it does need to be stated, a smart phone is an essential, there’s nothing we can do about that. I won’t be starting any Apple or Android fanboy fights in this article, so the phone in your pocket is purely up to personal preference, just make sure you have one. The further we go into the 21st century, the more important the smartphone has become to the university student and in extension modern day professional; whether it be checking the seemingly endless stream of emails, checking your exam results, arranging a group meeting or ordering uber eats at 3am in the morning to the architecture studio, you’re going to need a smart phone in your hot little pocket. Luckily, now more than ever, there are solid options for smartphones that can keep up with the best without breaking the bank, think iPhone Xr or Google Pixel 3a. These are terrific phones at mid-range prices; there are several good options priced even lower than these as well. However, if you are one of the people who need the latest and greatest like the iPhone 11 Pro Max or Samsung Note 10+ and you can afford them, go right ahead and buy one, you won’t be disappointed. As long as your smart phone can do everything you need it to, which will differ from discipline to discipline, buy whatever you can afford or whatever makes you happy, but trust me, having a smart phone makes university life far simpler… as long as you can pull yourself away from your Instagram feed. But hey! Instagram has plenty of great inspiration for architecture students, now doesn’t it? Well, that’s how I justify it anyway…

Laptop and Laptop Case

This section is not going to go in depth of what laptop you should buy as it differs depending on your course and personal preference; I will have future articles dedicated solely to assisting you in choosing the right computer for you. You will struggle greatly to get through university in 2020 without having a laptop or at the very minimum a computer at home. For some courses you may be able to get away with a high-powered tablet such as an iPad Pro, but for this article let us assume you will be using a laptop. It is up to personal preference as to whether you go with Mac or Microsoft software/ hardware as both offer unique experiences, although it is important to keep in mind that your university or specific course may require you to use one over the other. For example, some architecture courses strongly advise the use of Microsoft over Mac as some software is unavailable on Mac natively without additional software, such as Revit from Autodesk. Make sure to do your research before making this purchase as it will most likely be in your bag for a few years; asking university staff what they recommend is a good place to start as they will know the requirements of your course.

Water Bottle

So, what is the first thing that comes to your mind when I say ‘I need this to stay alive’? Oxygen? Vitamin B? Pinterest? Smashed Avocado with poached eggs and a soy cap from a cute café? Well, the answer I think of is water, that’s right, good old H2O. The adult human body is made up of roughly 60% water, varying depending on gender age and other factors; the human male is required to drink on average 3 litres of water per day to remain healthy, and a bit over 2 litres for females, think about that and answer honestly, do you drink that much water each day? The water in your diet Coke doesn’t count by the way… A great way to ensure that you drink your required water is by always carrying around a bottle of water with you, I have a bottle of water on my person pretty much all day everyday and I have for so long that I feel weird without one. There are thousands of different options of water bottles out there so it is guaranteed that you will find one that suits your taste. Think good for the environment though, so go for recyclable plastic, glass, aluminium or another substitute, be cool, don’t just keep buying disposable bottles.

Portable Charger

Batteries. Yes, those little explosives that we carry in our pockets each day and hold next to our heads when we make phone calls, that’s what I’m talking about. But, let us focus on the less deadly side of batteries, they keep our tech up and running, until they run out of power and well, then your life may as well be over anyway; at least that’s what it feels like when your phone dies 3 seconds before finishing that level on candy crush you have been stuck on for a week. So, to avoid this utter tragedy of the technology world, carry around with you a portable charger to allow you to crush those candies and plenty more after that. Portable chargers have come a long way in the last few years from being bulky, heavy and expensive things to now quite affordable, small and stylish little objects that can fit just about anywhere. I would recommend a minimum a 5000mAH power bank which will cover most modern-day phones for at least one and a bit charges as the typical flagship smart phones are currently sitting roughly at 3000mAH batteries. You can pick up one of these chargers for very little, but I would recommend going for a well-known brand such as Belkin or Cygnett purely because as I stated before, these are little explosives we are talking about. These days with USB-C it is possible for modern laptops and tablets to also be charged through portable power banks, for these however, you are going to require a larger capacity power bank such as 10000mAH for a partial charge and roughly 20000mAH and above for complete charging of something like an Apple MacBook Air. The higher capacity you go however, the bigger and more expensive the batteries become.

Headphones

Music, phone calls, virtual personal assistants and recording devices, headphones are capable of a lot these days. The most important function however, is that if you see someone with both headphones in, it is a clear ‘do not disturb’ sign. Sometimes I wear headphones without anything playing, just because I don’t want to have to talk to people when I’m trying to finish a design that is due in 15 minutes… Headphones are a must have for a university student and they provide countless hours of musical entertainment without being embarrassed that other people might hear what music you actually listen to *cough* Taylor Swift *cough cough*. The issue does arise from time to time when you’re in a lecture and you think your headphones are connected and instead when you press play on Tay Tay’s ‘Love Story’ starts playing for the entire cohort to hear with your cheeks growing redder and redder. It doesn’t really matter if you use overhear, on ear, in ear, noise cancelling or sports headphones as long as they do what you want them to do. It is totally up to your preference and your bank account for what you use, as buying AirPod Pro’s for $399 AUD may not be the wisest purchase if you only have $450 AUD in your account and payday is next week.

Bluetooth Speaker

You’ve gone to the beach with your friends after your last exam to chill out and have a few laughs, you open your EDC backpack and pull out a Bluetooth speaker, turn the volume to 11 and all of a sudden you’re the King or Queen of the beach, you brought the tunes to complete the perfect afternoon. A Bluetooth speaker is never going to be a waste of money as the potential for use is so expansive, in your room while studying, in the studio while studying, at the park while studying, okay as an architecture student most of the time you will be studying, but that doesn’t mean you can’t listen to the top 100 at the same time! Bluetooth speakers can be tiny but still push out terrific sound and with such a large range available it isn’t hard to find a great one for a great price. I personally recommend the Ultimate Ears (UE) Boom range as they are quite common amongst university students and if more than one of you have one, you can connect them and pump out double the sound or even up to and above 150 speakers for making the whole campus bop to the top; they are water and shock proof and really are the ultimate (excuse the pun) university speaker. Do look around though because there might be a different speaker out there that you like more for its aesthetics or sound quality or price.

Notepad and Pen

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, at university you actually have to do work… shocking, I know… I wasn’t expecting it either. But due to this unfortunate event, you will need to be taking some notes from time to time, and when you need to take a quick note, do a quick sketch or write down a possible suiters phone number, old school is the easiest way. So, in your EDC backpack or handbag, carry a nice simple note book and a pen. A leather note book and a nice metal pen is a simple and cheap way to make yourself look prestigious anyway, ‘that girl is taking notes with a shiny pen! She must be writing something important!’. Little did they know you were actually writing down your friends’ recipe for microwave chocolate cake. If you plan to take notes with pen and paper, think back to high school, there’s nothing wrong with having colour coded note books and a pencil case in your bag, studies show that writing by hand improves ability to remember what you have written down in comparison to typing anyway. But do try to save paper, it’s not like it just grows on trees…

Sunglasses

Not only do sunglasses make you look like a badass, but they also protect you from the suns ultraviolet radiation which in some places… Australia… is very strong for most of the year and can be harmful to you. Sunglasses have so many benefits, they make you look mighty fine when walking through campus to your next class, they are an extremely versatile accessory, they come in thousands of different designs, brands, materials and price ranges oh and they make it easier to see outside. Once you hit university or college, you need to admit, you aren’t a kid anymore unfortunately, you can’t eat whatever you want, drink whatever you want or not exercise ever without expecting negative repercussions, this means you’re getting older, and so is your skin. Therefore, wrinkles are on their way into your life whether you like it or not, but they can be combatted. Wearing sunglasses outside is one of the easiest ways to combat oncoming crows’ feet around your eyes. When you are outside, your eyes squint to keep the sun out, as you squint your scrunch up your eyes and after doing this for years of your life you produce creases (wrinkles). If you wear sunglasses, you won’t squint, therefore you won’t have to worry about those pesky fine lines for a long time to come! Plus, when you wear sunglasses you can look at that cute guy or girl that you are crushing on without them realising *wink*.

Umbrella

Okay, so this is not an item that will be required for absolutely everyone, but in most parts of the world you will come across a day when you need to get to or from your car, train or bus and mother nature has decided to open the heavens and wash the world away. This is when your trusty mini umbrella that fits neatly inside your bag during winter comes to save the day (insert cheering crowd here). Umbrella’s do not have to cost much to work effectively, you can pick one up for next to nothing or you can buy a Gucci umbrella that will effectively do the same thing. Not all umbrellas are created equally though as some have different and more effective mechanisms for opening and closing and some are simply better quality. An umbrella can also be a fashion statement, but you can never go wrong with a classic black or navy-blue umbrella. Shop around and find one that you like.

Miscellaneous items

This is the part where I talk about the things that aren’t important enough to get their own section but are still integral elements of your EDC. These items include charging cables for all of your devices (you can buy 10cm travel versions of these that are perfect for EDC), sunscreen for those sunny days to keep your skin from being harmed by the sun, a packet of mints or gum for keeping your breath minty all day long, tissues for a cold or for when you’re crying in a corner of the studio at 4am because your model broke, personal hygiene supplies such as a small packet of wet wipes can come in handy as well as sanitary products for female readers and a mini bleach pen that can be used on stained clothes, these can be a life saver if you have spaghetti at lunch and don’t want your crush to know you’re a mess of a human being.

Final Notes:

Congratulations on making it through another TASD Essential article and thank you for joining me here. If you think I have missed any Essential EDC, or you want to let people know about things that you keep on you each day please leave a comment below! I love to hear from the TASD cohort. Stay tuned for more helpful tips and tricks to make your life easier in architecture school.

Ladies and Gentlemen, class dismissed.

Iain Colliver, SONA, YBA, GKIHS