For the recruiting series in 2005 at Northwest Missouri State University, I came up with an odd brochure to add to the lineup of traditional pieces on campus housing or academic programs. Modeled after a car company’s accessories brochure, Northwest’s Essentials piece gave students a peek into the details of university life. Here is how I described a series of object shots, revealing how the everyday parts of a college student’s life can paint a picture of their new world. My favorite part is the Bearsquirrels. But maybe you had to be there.

1  | key fob

Metal keys are so last century. Meet the key fob – your entry into your hall, your personal security blanket, the funkiest member of your keychain.

2  | photos

People forget funny things when they pack for college – bed sheets, for example, or deodorant. (Note: This is not recommended. Pack the Right Guard, for heaven’s sake.) But they don’t forget to include the crucial collection of photos to line their walls. And as freshman year turns into sophomore, that collection grows and expands. Yeah, you’re gonna need a bigger wall.

3  | laptop

Welcome to the Electronic Campus, version 4.0. With the new laptop loan program, you can carry the convenience of Northwest’s powerful computer network with you to class, on weekend trips, to Java City – anywhere you please. And thanks to wireless hotspots around campus, you can hop online, too.

4  | gameday

It’s one of the classic hallmarks of campus life – donning the Bearcat green, painting your face, screaming your head off, learning the cheers, celebrating the victories. Everyone from armchair quarterbacks to home-team cheerleaders is there; they’ll save you a seat.

5  | bearcat card

This is the accessory to end all accessories, the way you’ll eat and do laundry, your ticket to everything on campus, your ATM card (if you have a USBank account), the one thing you always keep with you. So smile pretty at SOAR when it’s time to take your Bearcat Card photo. You’ll want it to last.

6  | bearcat apparel

Ah, your first taste of the school colors. Your first T-shirt. Your first university notebook or something. It will really start to feel like College (with a capital C) once you’re decked out in Bearcat green and white. Save room in the closet.

7  | textbooks

When you go home for semester break, your friends who chose other schools will probably still be moaning about that hole in their wallet caused by the textbooks they had to buy. You have two options: exercise quiet restraint and congratulate yourself on choosing a university that offers a textbook loan program, or gloat. Whichever.

8  | roommate(s)

You’ll communicate with them on wipe-off boards, with IM on your laptop, with an inscrutable system of coded messages. They will be your lunch buddies and road trip companions. Six or 10 years from now, you might be in their wedding party. It all starts on day one.

9  | squirrels

Technically, you can’t accessorize with squirrels, but pretty soon you’ll notice that they go with everything. Literally. These critters own the place. With the Missouri Arboretum as the world’s greatest apartment complex and thousands of crumb-dropping students, Northwest squirrels are friendly, forward and ever-present. Meet our unsung mascots, the Bearsquirrels.