MY ACCOUNT
Grad season is bitter sweet for a lot of people. While it’s exciting to send your graduate off to the next steps of life, it can be nerve-wracking and a little sad. Even though there are a lot of emotions tied to graduation, you want to be sure to send your graduate off with all of the right tools so that they will be prepared for whatever comes their way. New graduates always appreciate money and gift cards, but here are some other ideas if you want to get a little more creative with your gift this year.
- Grooming essentials: Let’s face it when a new college student has bills to pay and barely enough funds to cover it all, grooming kind of gets chucked to the curb. Give your graduate some grooming essentials that will keep them looking presentable and feeling confident. Colognes, shaving kits, beard products, hair products, you name it, they will probably need it in the future.
- Snacks: The two essentials of college; food and sleep. Get some of your graduate’s favorite snacks as a gift! You can put them in a cute basket if you care about making things #pinterestworthy…or you can just give them a bag full of snacks. Either way, snacks are a great idea.
- Toolbag: Yes, they could just go out and buy some tools with a gift card...but they won’t. Again, when you have to decide between buying a textbook or buying a hammer, which one are you going to choose. A tool kit can come in handy when your graduate is moving to a new apartment or house. And the best part is, tools don’t expire or go bad so this will be a gift that they will be able to cherish for many many years to come.
- Subscriptions: Consider getting your graduate a subscription to something they love. Whether that is a video streaming service like Netflix or Hulu, or music streaming like Spotify, or even a magazine subscription…the internet has it all. One year, I got a monthly popcorn subscription and it was great because I love popcorn! I looked forward to getting my popcorn flavor of the month every month. Subscriptions are literally the gift that keeps on giving. Think of something personal that your grad loves and splurge on a 6-month or yearlong subscription for that.
- Cleaning supplies: Listen, graduates are brand new into the #adulting world. Cleaning supplies are something that you use but you don’t think about where they come from when you use them…they just…appear. A mop bucket, broom, Windex, paper towels, and toilet cleaner are extremely practical gifts for any graduate. Yes, it might not be the most glamorous gift, but their future roommates will thank you later.
These gifts may not be the most glamorous, but I guarantee that the receiver will appreciate them as much as they appreciate a gift card or money. As a final tip, I think it’s a great idea to write a card congratulating the graduate and telling them how much they mean to you. Graduation can be a scary time for your student because it means the end of familiarity. Give them the confidence (and the tools) they need to take this next stage of life by the horns and ride it out, and they will be forever grateful.