{"id":11857,"date":"2026-07-21T20:10:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T01:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/?p=11857"},"modified":"2026-08-02T20:29:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T01:29:35","slug":"packing-list-my-woulda-coulda-shoulda-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/07\/packing-list-my-woulda-coulda-shoulda-advice\/","title":{"rendered":"Packing list: My woulda, coulda, shoulda advice"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I got off the shaky L during a 95-degree, humid day, I anticipated my demise. When the train doors opened, hot city air blasted into our faces. Cherubs began to melt, slowly, under the scorching sun. I wished I had brought something to cool me down \u2014 a cold towel or a portable fan. Luckily, a fellow cherub had thought to pack the latter, and we shared the cool air for as long as our wrists could pump it.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, dear future cherubs, do not underestimate the Midwestern summer. Start with a portable fan. Here are some other items I found myself requiring after my arrival in Evanston:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A reusable, unbreakable cup, bowl and utensils. If you sleep past 8 a.m., and you\u2019re not on your track team, you are not going to make it to the dining hall before morning lecture. Odds are, you will be making breakfast in your dorm, like me. Or, you will be skipping breakfast, also like me. Bring a fork, knife and any food-holding vessel you find most useful to save yourself the Target trip.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Two sets of extra-long bedsheets. At the end of the second week, I found myself wrestling with my one set of twin, standard-size bedsheets that I stretched to fit the XL-size dorm beds and to dry. Please bring two sets. You never want your bed to be out of commission.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. A huge, thick towel. With Clark Street Beach nearby, it\u2019s hard to resist a break spent at Lake Michigan. My thin second bath towel worked fine, but a beach towel would be preferable \u2014\u00a0it can brave the elements.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. A robe. I packed this item, albeit last minute, and it was a lifesaver. You want something to wear for those waddles back to your room after a hot shower.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. A sweater. As someone who lives in a home without air conditioning, I did not anticipate the stark contrast between outside and inside temperature. Classrooms are chilly. Bring your own item to keep you warm, or buy a coveted \u201cMedill period\u201d sweatshirt.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I learned it all the hard way. Here\u2019s a guide to everything you don\u2019t know you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":343,"featured_media":11696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[702],"class_list":["post-11857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-experiences"],"acf":[],"authors":[{"term_id":702,"user_id":343,"is_guest":0,"slug":"raj26","display_name":"Rania Raj","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/63e5afe000501f756727e982de293e305899fbc7f8487b0256be74c60f1d51e4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"Raj","first_name":"Rania","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/343"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11857"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12969,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11857\/revisions\/12969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11857"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherubs.medill.northwestern.edu\/2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=11857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}