My youngest brother starts college next week, following four of five his older siblings off to University of Limerick. I was in first year in UL when Niall was born, and learned of his arrival by telephoning home from a payphone in Quinn’s pub. Twenty years later he’s off retracing my footsteps, but in a very different world. For starters he’ll find it difficult to find a payphone.
So, to send Niall off I got together some bits and pieces that every student needs to set him on the right track- a “Student Sendoff Hamper” if you will. I made one for my youngest sister when she went to UL four years ago, in nappy box (she’s graduating tomorrow, congratulations Grá) and the contents varied a bit, and since I originally wrote this post my other sister Niamh told me that she got one too 🙂 It’s a personal gift, made even moreso by the card that Ciarán made for his uncle.
He even drew in the lines
What’s in a student sendoff hamper?
Decoration does’t matter, a box to carry the stuff into the house is what’s required, hence the thrown togetherness of the hamper below.
It contains things that will help my brother in student survival, you might spot some of the contents in the picture on the list below. Don’t try to fancy it up (although fancy is lovely) students need basics, noodles, readymade sauces etc. Pick bits up over a couple of weeks and you won’t notice the cost of the very appreciated gift. Have fun making it.
Niall’s Hamper
Pasta (lots)
Tuna
Pasta Sauce
Pot Noodles
Ketchup
Weetabix
Washing up Liquid
Sponges
Curry Sauce
Kitchen Spray
Shower gel
Shampoo
More Noodles
Tins of Beans
His favourite chocolate
A Bath towel
Toilet Paper
Juice (may be also used as a mixer)
Pasta Sauces
Rice
Coffee
Other things that are useful to include:
A mug
A cereal bowl
A bathmat
One of those things that catches hair in the bath plughole
A sharp knife (student accommodation has the bluntest knives)
A bottle of their favourite alcohol (I owe you a pint Niall)
Cleaning products
Toiletries
A return bus ticket
A printed copy of the Bumbles of Rice Student Cooking Guide
Why not add to the excitement of heading off to college for the first time by making one for the new student in your life?
