Gearing Up For College with Office Depot

Hello second week of school! In some ways it felt like I never left Furman and yet I am still in disbelief that I am an upperclassmen (there are juniors in high school that look older than I do).  With apartment decorating and getting settled back into the stresses that come with beginning a new school year I took a trip to get some of my favorite things, school supplies, at Office Depot and wanted to share my finds with y'all!

I tend to gravitate towards the same sort of school supplies each year but the wide selection available at Office Depot had me wanting to try all of their different products, specifically those from their own brand! Whether it be their notebooks, backpacks, or desk supplies I spent far more time than necessary browsing around since they have styles college students want at prices that are affordable!

After being in a trance due to all of the great options I forced myself to look at my list and begin gathering the products I actually came to get! For me, my first essential is without a doubt notebooks. I specifically love Five Stars 3 subject and 1 subject college ruled notebooks! The covers are durable, the pages don't tear out like some notebooks do, and they come in lots of fun colors with folders that match. Since I am taking four classes this semester (that is what all students at Furman do) I picked up four different Five Star notebooks and matching folders for each. These are light weight and allow me to fit all of my supplies for class and heavy textbooks in my back pack without feeling weighed down. I take all of my notes in these notebooks and use the folders to put my syllabus, study guides, article readings, and other assignments organized into the pockets. I really love having separate color coated supplies for each class since it is easy to grab them and go on my way out the door but if you don't mind having multiple classes in one place Office Depot had great binder options and stylish accordion folders that would put a twinkle in just about anybody's eyes!

Since notebooks aren't exactly useful without a writing counterpart I picked up two different styles of black pens. The first have always been my go to and those are the BIC Atlantis pens. They write so smooth and have a ball point which makes my notes smooth and smudge free. Another great thing is that they aren't expensive so you can stock up now and be set for the school year! A new type of pens I tried this year are the BIC Velocity pens which have a smaller point and are gel based instead of ball point. These have been great when I am writing to-do lists or notecards since they are a bit more fun to write with and I love the way they make my handwriting look a bit more professional. 

Highlighters are another must have for me and I always purchase Sharpie's packs of highlighters. I especially love these with the skinny tip and multitude of yellow highlighters since those are always the ones I run out of first! I highlight in my textbook, agenda, and even sometimes in my notes or on study guides I make and I find that that is a wonderful way to make key information pop. 

Lastly, notecards are my study tool of choice. Writing things down is a proven way to help you learn information and writing down key terms or facts onto notecards has been a way of quizzing myself on information that I have used since intermediate school. I like both ruled and unruled depending on the subject matter and I typically try to buy the least expensive versions of each since I go through them so quickly. Office Depot had a pack of 300 for a great price so I went ahead and got a couple and sadly am already realizing that I'll probably have to go and get more before the semester ends.

A word to the wise when you go into Office Depot, if you don't want to spend *all* of your money then don't go down their desk supply aisle. I was so tempted to buy one of everything. Maybe I should have since a stylish desk may make me want to study more! 

I will definitely be showing y'all how I organize my notes and organization posts of that sort in the very near future so be on the lookout for those fun posts! And for those of you just getting back into the groove of classes like me I hope you're having a great week.

 What are your favorite back to school supplies?

This post is sponsored by Office Depot, Inc. and Her Campus Media. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Prep In Your Step possible!