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The College Kit!

The Ultimate Tool for Those Completely New to Higher Education

By Maurice BernierPublished 4 years ago 8 min read
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Photo by Ronan Furuta on Unsplash

Okay. You just finished a four-year stint called high school. You might have a part time job or even no job all. It doesn’t matter right now. All you have in your head is the goal of attaining the best education you can get. After all, you have lofty goals. You may be planning on becoming a doctor, lawyer, teacher, scientist or whatever you want. They all require that you surpass your last school and head to COLLEGE!!

My journey officially started back in 1974 right after I graduated from Christ the King High School. I was a member of a college band at St. John’s University for almost two years because I originally planned to become a music major. Unfortunately, the college had no music as a major or a minor. So, I entered the school after my high school graduation and decided to become an English teacher.

My very first day of college was a true eye opener. The very first class I had was History 1001 with Dr. Hendrickson. I was so not ready for what came next. I had an assignment pad and a pen. The professor walked in. I figured that we would talk with him and he would tell us what text we needed and how the class would be structured. I was all set to write the name of the book and leave. Not so, Tonto!! He started talking and talking. It was a one-hour class. A lecture!!! There was no time to ask questions because he was explaining the first two chapters of a book that I did not even have yet. I wrote and wrote and wrote. Within 20 minutes, I used up every bit of space I had in my dinky little assignment pad. I still had 40 more minutes of his lecture and I was already out of paper. What’s more, I had two more classes to attend that day and I had nothing to write on. I leaned over to a classmate and nicely asked for some loose-leaf. Five minutes later, I asked for another sheet. Strike three came when I needed a third sheet. Needless to say, he refused to comply. I had to think fast. I pointed to the floor near him and informed him that there was a $5 bill on the floor. He looked and I quickly snatched another sheet of loose-leaf out of his book. My devious plan worked…..for now.

I honestly do not remember what I did in the other two classes, but the first class woke me up to the reality of the college experience.

As time went on that year, I noticed that some students carried tape recorders, some the size of the lunch boxes I had in elementary school. I figured that would be a great help for me. I had one at home. I tried it for about two weeks. There were more problems than solutions using it. There had to be another way to get through college. I really needed a solution.

I managed to graduate four times from SJU. I received my AA, BS, MS and PD all while using the same pen and marble notebook method. There was a lot of writing to be done and a whole lot more attention to be paid to every professor I had. There had to be another way and here in 2020, I found the solution. I wish that I could trademark it, but I can’t. Still, if other students are using it, that is all I want.

The solution starts with a fanny pack. One can be purchased at a sporting goods store like Models or Dick’s. They should run about $30. You can get them in various colors or even in military khaki. Me? I got mine in black because I tend to wear dark clothes and I do not want my bag to be noticeable due to its contents which I will elaborate on a little later.

My College Kit contains various items of value. The best part is that one can use it all year round, not just in school. It leaves your hands free to carry something else, your significant other’s hand, a couple of beers or even nothing at all. Until you take it off, it stays with you all the time until you take it off. Once you get used to having it around your waist, you might sometimes forget that you have it on. It can be that comfortable. What’s in it? I’m glad that you asked, Sherlock.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

Some of the items I’ve put into my C.K. are rather obvious, but each has a specific purpose for me. I have three black ink gel pens, two mechanical pencils, three 4-in-1 pens, a yellow highlighter for use in my textbooks, White-Out correction marker, USB cord and other cords along with one computer extension cord, 6 flash drives on a cord that can be worn around my neck, two 2 terabyte portable hard drives and a voice recorder, a device that I wish I had for my very first college class. There are a few more items, but these are the main items that I consider to be the basic parts of the kit.

Let’s start with voice recorder. The voice recorder is one made by Philips. It is truly an amazing device. How so? Well, let’s compare it to a regular standard tape recorder.

Back in my early days when the dinosaurs roamed the Earth, I saw these tape recorders pop up around the campus. They were fairly large and that was just the basic recorder. If your seat in class was not next to an electrical socket, you also needed not only batteries in the recorder, but spare batteries just in case the main batteries quit. If you had dead batteries but sat next to the socket, you had to carry a cord so that you could plug in your tape recorder. Those recorders also required a microphone. So, you needed to carry one of those. If you only had one class for that day, you only needed one cassette that could last you one or maybe two class sessions. And your attention was usually split between listening to the professor, writing your notes and making sure that your recorder was functioning properly. Did I forget to mention that when the tape was done, you either had to flip the cassette over OR switch to another cassette because the first side was full? Yup. Lots of work went into the cassette player.

Photo by Ronan Furuta on Unsplash

That was in 1974 to about 1978 when I completed my undergraduate studies.

After I started and completed my Master’s degree some four years later, I noticed the emergence of the micro-cassette recorder. They pretty much resembled a full size recorder that was left in a hot wash too long. It was almost the size of a pack of cigarettes (No, I don’t smoke!). It still required the same things I mentioned earlier except there was no cord. It only required batteries. Also, some of them had built-in microphones, but the other tasks were still necessary for proper operation. At least this one could fit in a pocket.

We were getting somewhere, but we weren’t there yet!

It is now 2020. Evolution of technology has taken place. Since 1982, the laptop computer was created and the cassettes have disappeared. What has taken the recorder’s place? It is now the voice recorder. It is a super way to record those extensive lessons. The unit itself is about the size of HALF a pack of cigarettes. (No, I still don’t smoke!) It needs NO tapes. Instead, like any computer, its internal capacity is expressed in terms of gigabytes and/or hours. With some models, you can insert a microchip which is about the size and thinness of a pinky fingernail like mine. Most do not require batteries. I use a Philips DVT4010 VoiceTracer Digital Voice Recorder. If you were to purchase one today, it would only cost you around $70. What a great deal! On top of that, its battery is internal and you’d only need to recharge it, not run out to constantly purchase batteries. You also have the option of using the same cord that you use to charge up your cell phone. This recorder has FIVE folders so that you can store each lecture into its own folder. I could keep History in one folder, English in another folder and Math (Ugh!) in its own folder as well. I also mentioned the laptop. Why? Well, at the end of the day, you can plug it into your laptop or desktop computer and all of your notes would be instantly downloaded to your computer. When done, the recorder empties itself into your laptop and deletes what is in the voice recorder. NONE of your notes would be missing AND you were able to start the next day with a clean recorder. Awesome!

I also carry around a Philips Voice Tracer DVT2500 4GB Digital Voice Recorder. Why? Well, honestly, because I like the product. It also costs half the price of the model listed above.

Finally, my college kit is not complete until I have a toothbrush, some small memo pads somewhat like the assignment pad I had on my first day of college, and a knife and a spork (combination spoon and fork). The eating utensils are made of metal so that they won’t break over time. There are a few other incidentals, but they are not needed to be mentioned here.

Well, that is my creation. I hope that you like it. If you do, please give me credit for creating it. By the way, if you are presently in college, good luck. Study hard. Work harder and keep it up. You can do it. Pay attention to your professors and you will do well. Take it from a pro. What you put into your studies will determine what you get out of your studies. I truly hope that my College Kit will truly benefit you.

Take care!

Photo by Ruijia Wang on Unsplash

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About the Creator

Maurice Bernier

I am a diehard New Yorker! I was born in, raised in and love my NYC. My blood bleeds orange & blue for my New York Mets. I hope that you like my work. I am cranking them out as fast as I can. Please enjoy & share with your friends.

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