College Lesson Learned #26

#26- Care packages are easily the greatest thing that has ever happen to students away from home.

So we live in a society in which people can get in touch with others, even across the world in just a matter of seconds. It takes all of ten seconds to post on a friend’s wall, “Hey bro, how’s Namibia?” Unfortunately, because of the convenience of communication, snail mail has almost disappeared unless it is a bill or an invitation. No more letters.

With that being said we also love delicious unhealthy food (if you haven’t figured out yet, I REALLY like food and can bring food into any conversation).

So why not combine the two? Good idea! Snail mail + delicious unhealthy food= Greatest care package!

At my school, when a package has arrived for you, the lovely ladies in the mail room will send you an e-mail. When you’re not expecting one of those e-mails, it is so exciting! The anticipation can barely be contained! Okay then you go and pick it up and it’s always in a box you wouldn’t expect. A teeny, square brown box, or an Addidas shoe box. Something like that. And ALL of them are wrapped in more tape than you would’ve ever expected or needed.

One important thing to remember: try not to pick up your box when you are going somewhere. For example do not pick it up before going to class, rehearsal, or dinner. That way your care package remains a secret. You don’t want too many people to know about your awesome package full of deliciousness. People get extremely jealous.

When you finally arrive at a place where it is quiet and not too many people are within reach, you start to open it… well try to open it. You realize very quickly that writing a huge paper on a pointless topic is much easier than attempting to slice through the force field of tape protecting the box and its precious cargo. Then you hate your package. The anticipation is killing you, but you finally open it and as expected there is food and candy and sometimes even a letter. Yes! But then there is something in there that you weren’t expecting. Around Halloween my “aunt” sent me a care package that was full of candy, but then I found some things that I wasn’t expecting- a devil mask and bubbles. That is the key with care packages, you have to have a sense of humor when sending them, because college kids LOVE bubbles. Seriously, it is SICKENING.

Moral: Send care packages often enough to show that you care, but not often enough that they aren’t 

special. And put something special in there, like a lava lamp.

Moral #2: ALWAYS put fruit snacks in a care package. We college students love fruit snacks.