Moving off campus can be a huge change. You go from the safety and ease of dorm life to being thrown into a house, apartment or residential community to fend for yourself. To make that transition smoother, below are 10 things you didn’t know you had to do before moving off campus.

Wake up to watch the sun rise

Get used to the beauty of orange skies in the morning as the sun rises. Waking up three hours before your first class is the only way to secure a parking spot on campus, but at least you get to enjoy the view while you fight for a spot in the lower lot.

Train your vocal cords

You may need to consider hiring a vocal coach. It is of utmost importance to practice barking in the mirror every night before bed — you never know when you may need to scare off the crazy person lurking outside your window.

Make a new best friend

Your landlords and housing community maintenance staff will become your BFFs, so get your matching friendship bracelets now. And if that doesn’t work, you may have to befriend the entire Vestal Fire Department for when your smoke detector won’t stop beeping, or you’re locked out.

Invest in Home Depot buckets

If you thought the roof over your head was built to keep out torrential downpours, you thought wrong. When your roof has gaping holes, the only thing that can save you is those bright orange Home Depot buckets.

Get ready for hunting season

You never know when a spider, mouse or other creature will break in. It can be dangerous out there, so you need to be prepared for war.

Get really good at baking cookies

Picture this: your sink breaks. It’s too late to call the landlord, and you have piles of dishes to do. So you make a plate of cookies and bring it to your next-door neighbors, begging them to help you fix it. On the bright side, who knows — they just might.

Train for the Binghamton 5K

Otherwise known as chasing down the Broome County buses as you watch it skip your stop. Download the running app Strava, and always wear running sneakers and athleisure just in case.

Find your new favorite podcast

When you’re waiting in 30 minutes of traffic on Main Street, you’ll need some entertainment. That’s the perfect opportunity to browse podcasts. They’re educational and have the bonus of helping you impress your friends with your new knowledge.

Learn to bobsled

Binghamton winters can be rough. Snow piles up so high your car is buried for a full week. And if you’re out of cookies for your neighbors, you will be stuck having to make a choice: painstakingly shovel your car out of the snow for four hours or bobsled to class. The latter is the obvious choice.

Contribute to global warming

The gas used to drive back and forth from class, the lack of recycling bins off campus, and using paper plates so you don’t have to do the dishes all add up. Sometimes, you have to contribute to global warming to keep the lights on.

There’s a lot that living off campus will teach you. Stay safe out there.