You’re in your first year of university or college and you’ve just moved into residence. After unloading what you brought to campus into your dorm room, you realize that you’re missing a few essentials.
How are you going to hang up your clothes without hangers? Your room doesn’t have air conditioning — it looks like you’re going to need a fan. You forgot to bring toothpaste, you need dorm-appropriate snacks, and you’re starting to think that you should've taken up your older sibling’s offer and brought their mini fridge.
With a long and varied list of essentials piling up, the place to go for your one-stop shop becomes obvious: Walmart.
Unfortunately for you, hundreds of other first year students are facing the same problem and have the same solution.
Walmart during frosh week is not for the faint of heart. In my first year of university, I was one of those hundreds of students making their way to the North American superstore for what I thought was going to be a quick and easy shopping trip.
I would avoid shopping at Walmart during the first couple of days of orientation week at all costs. If my word isn't enough for you to want to avoid it, here's a condensed version of what it's really like shopping there during o-week.
1. The car ride there.
The ride to your school's nearest Walmart is nothing out of the ordinary. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and you're sitting comfortably in the backseat with your supply list written safely in your phone.
2. Parking the car.
You arrive at the parking lot and it's packed. You and your mom search out empty parking spots like hawks while dad swerves around zoned-out drivers. When you do find a spot, it's a tight squeeze. Nevertheless, you shimmy your way between the cars and walk toward the store with your family.
3. Entering the store.
The store is swamped with people. Tired parents, frustrated students, and cranky children appear wall-to-wall. You decide that it's in your best interest to find an employee and ask where the homeware and college supplies are located.
4. Employee interaction.
After dodging what feels like hundreds of customers, you find an employee. No matter the time of day, the employee looks like they've seen some things. You ask them where to find what you're looking for, and they point you in the right direction. You swear you hear them mumble "good luck" under their breath.
5. Finding college supplies.
You find the college supplies and mayhem. What looks like hundreds of first years are scavenging the already picked-over piles of goods for the supplies they need. You swap glances with your parents, take a deep breath, and dive into the madness.
6. The missing piece.
You've made your way through the store and have managed to find the majority of what you were looking for. You've got your mini fridge, hangers, toiletries, and enough Goldfish crackers to last you until December, however, you couldn't find that one last item that was completely cleared out from the shelves.
Luckily for you, you happened to find it dumped off and unwanted in a completely random area of the store. You embrace the rare find and slam dunk it into your shopping cart.
7. Long lines.
With your cart filled to the brim, you go to the checkout and unsurprisingly find the lineups to be extra long. You remind yourself that you're on the home stretch and choose the line that looks like it's the shortest.
8. The bill.
It's finally your turn to check out. You place item after item onto the conveyor belt and watch your total rise with each item scanned. With a heavy heart, you fork over your hard-earned cash to the cashier.
9. Lifting the bags.
When picking up your shopping bags, you realize you should have spent your summer lifting weights, not catching Pokémon. It's a struggle to lift your heavy bags, but you make it happen.
10. Exiting the store.
You leave the store sweaty, tired, and a little irritable, but you're fulfilled. You survived Walmart on an occasion that's much like Black Friday or Boxing Day — it was every shopper for themselves.
As you pass other bright-eyed first years on their way into the store, you give them a knowing look.
They might not understand in the moment, but they will soon enough.