10 things any college student would love to see under the tree this year
By Laura Gleason
Santa’s checking his lists -- twice even -- and whether you’ve been naughty or nice, you’ll probably clean up pretty well come Dec.25. When you think about it, your parents probably don’t know what you’ve been up to so that should bode well for your pile under the tree. But if your parents are anything like mine, they’ve already laid the «you’re so hard to shop for now that you’re in college» line on you and you can look forward to opening all the clothes, CDs, DVDs and useless junk you could ask for. So why not help your parents out and give them a few ideas about what to get you this
10. Stocking Stuffers
Earplugs, 9. Gift Cards If you’re like me, you don’t exactly trust your parents’ taste in clothes, books, movies, etc. You won’t have to wait in the long lines after Christmas to return your stuff if you follow one simple rule: gift cards. Gift cards are a fabulous invention that allows your parents to give you money to spend at a store you like, but you can pick out the cool jeans instead of the fringed pink polyester sweater. Some other great places to use gift cards and gift certificates: bookstores, restaurants or treat yourself to a massage following a long and stressful semester at Loyola. Plus, you can use the gift cards whenever you want. Have enough clothes right now? Save the card for the spring when you need to replenish the wardrobe. Cost is at the discretion of the giver. 8. Various Media Okay, so I complained about the CDs and DVDs but everything’s good in moderation. With file sharing and music downloading are all but obliterated, many of us have been forced to venture out and buy our first real CDs in several years. I almost forgot how expensive those things were. It’s much better for Mom and Dad to dole out the tunes -- try the new Counting Crows great hits album. And college students can never have enough movies; snag the new releases or revert to the classics to add to your DVD collection. Video games more your style? Check out the latest games for 7.Magazine/Newspaper Subscriptions Want to find out how your high school sports team is doing, who’s running for town office or other things happening at home while you’re away at school? Ask your parents for a subscription to your local newspaper and read about all the latest happenings. Or, subscribe to all the magazines you end up buying in line at the checkout stand anyway. Have People, USWeekly, Sports Illustrated and more delivered every week. Bonus feature: plenty of stuff for your MS box, and who doesn’t love getting mail? Prices vary depending on the publication. Visit amazon.com for subscription information. 6. The George Foreman Grill Most of you probably have these by now, but for those who don’t (and for the freshmen who are already thinking about the «palatial dorms» that await them next year), go out and get a George Foreman Grill. You plug it in and in five minutes you’re making chicken breasts, burgers, grilled vegetables and the best grilled cheeses you can get outside of a diner. For those nights when you just cannot eat one more thing from Primo’s, George saves the day, and pretty affordably too. $30 at grocery stores, pharmacies. 5. Portable Foosball Table Challenge your roommates to a rollicking game of foosball on a portable foosball table from Restoration Hardware stores (www.restorationhardware.com). Foosball packs all the competitiveness of soccer into an 4. Tickets Concerts and sporting events: a college students’ dream. Have the parents score you a couple of seats the next time your favorite band or team comes to town. Check out the upcoming acts at the Recher Theatre in Towson or the First Mariner Arena downtown. Reserve a couple of seats at Camden Yards in the spring. Or search a venue closer to home and bring a high school friend with you. For a great time during a great season, venture into Manhattan to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden or the New York City Ballet perform The Nutcracker Suite. Ticket prices will vary. 3. Digital Camera Welcome to the 21st century boys and girls and the age of digital. Cameras are a wonderful way to capture your memories (especially of college life) but photo developing can be pretty expensive, especially when half your roll turns out to be the inside of your purse or extremely cropped With digital cameras, you can take as many pictures as you can fit on your memory card, delete the bad ones, send the okay ones to the computer printer and the great ones off to be developed. You can Best of all, it makes it 100 times easier to share your pictures with your friends and family. Send friends from high school pictures of your wild and crazy nights at Loyola and send the tamer ones to grandparents, aunts and uncles just so they know you’re not surviving on Raman and coffee. Publish them on a website and give everyone access. Keep the old camera around, but invest in a good digital one and move into the future. Prices vary depending on model and make. Found in most electronic stores. 2. Portable DVD Player Perfect for those long train and car rides home from Baltimore and back. Yes, most laptops have DVD players in them these days, but those things are heavy and why lug them around just to watch a movie. They’re small, compact, light and perfect for watching in bed when you’re roommates are hogging the TV. Plus, you can plug earphones into them so you don’t bother anyone else. Many of the models also double as CD players, so you only need to bring one piece of electronic equipment with you on your travels. Prices vary, depending on how high tech you want to get, but Mom and Dad should be prepared to drop at least a couple hundred dollars. Look for them at most electronic stores and some warehouse clubs. 1. Picking up the tab for Spring Break. I don’t know about you, but whipping out the checkbook or the credit card for the travel agent would be that much sweeter if it were Mom or Dad’s. While you’re at it, maybe you can get them to upgrade to a nicer hotel (not that $19.95 a night is anything to be ashamed of). Warning: your parents should think you’ve been pretty near angelic this year to ask for this one. Spring Break not in the cards this year? Have Mom and Dad cough up the dough for next semester’s books. Save some of your hard earned money by having Mom and Dad pay for some of the college essentials. If you don’t get exactly what you want on Christmas, don’t worry, that’s why they invented gift receipts. Sure the lines will be long, but eventually you’ll end up with something great with just a little effort. Getting great gifts isn’t everything, enjoy the season and have fun shopping.