Graduation season is upon us—how exciting! All of that hard work and studying has finally paid off, and high school graduates are now about to embark on an exciting new chapter in their lives. A milestone such as high school graduation deserves special recognition. Show the grads in your life that you care with a gift that they’ll find useful and will enjoy. Stuck on ideas? The list below can help.
1. Money
This is probably the most common and most obvious. What college student couldn’t use a little extra cash to put towards their tuition fund or to enjoy the occasional night out with friends? If you’re not sure what to get for a grad, you certainly can’t go wrong with money.
2. Gift Cards
On a similar note, you can get the grads in your life gift cards to places they might be frequenting over the next few months or years. Such venues might include Amazon, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Walmart, and Starbucks. You can find these kinds of gift cards at your local grocery store, Walmart, convenience store or on their websites.
3. Public Transportation Cards and/or Flight Tickets
Most undergrads (at least in their first year) won’t have cars with them on campus, and depending on where they’re going to school might need a way to get around. Many colleges have their own free shuttle services to get around campuses or places very nearby, but in the case that a student wants to venture out a little further, a public transportation card could be helpful. Depending on how far they are from their hometown, a plane ticket to get home for the holidays could also come in handy. Many major transportation companies give you the ability to send vouchers and prepaid tickets to another person, or local transportation systems often sell prepaid cards on their websites.
United Airlines hosts a travel crowdfunding platform. This allows people to get help from friends and family with funding a trip. Check it out here.
4. Subscription & Streaming Services
After a hectic week of classes, sometimes it can be nice for students to just sit back, relax, and catch up on the shows you they might have missed during the week. Subscriptions to streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu, and GameFly can help students decompress.
5. College-Branded Paraphernalia
Send your grads to school in style! College book stores have a wide selection of school-spirited clothing, including T-shirts, sweatshirts, jerseys, scarfs, sweatpants, shorts, hats, socks, and gloves. College-branded key chains, lanyards, coffee mugs, banners, and stuffed animals can also make great gifts and let students show off their school pride. You can also usually find college paraphernalia at major sporting goods stores, and on Amazon or other online stores.
Checkout Fanatics where they have over 500 different collegiate licenses and sell a ton of nice clothing.
6. Subscription Food Services
Keep the freshman 15 off with healthier snack options. Eating healthy is tough in college. The dining halls don't always serve the most healthy options, there's a lot of processed snacks around campus, and students don't always have the money or means to venture outside of campus.
That's why we suggest a healthy and wholesome food service like Graze or UrthBox. Graze is a portion controlled and nutritionist approved monthly service. UrthBox is similar but provides healthy, gluten free and organic snacks. These services are great because they will ship right to the student at college and will continue each month as long as you keep them subscribed. So it's one less thing they need to worry about while getting used to the college lifestyle.
7. Books
Another idea you can’t go wrong with. Sure, students will be reading plenty of course material while in college, but taking some time to read for fun is good for their mental wellbeing and gives their mind a chance to rest. Plus, it’s always nice to have new books to look forward to during the holidays.
We recommend the following books for high school graduates:
A Short Guide to a Happy Life: This short and simple book by Pulitzer Prize Winner, Anna Quindlen, is meant to show readers how good we have it. It is a book that will stay on the coffee table for generations.
P.S. I Love You - A book of inspirational quotes filled with wisdom and life advice. This is a great read and keepsake for young adults heading into the real world.
Lifes Little Instruction Book -This book is a great morale booster. When school or life is getting tough Lifes Little Instruction Book provides great advice to move forward with living a happy and rewarding life.
The 5 Ingredient College Cook Book - Cooking during college gets a little difficult, but a students' got
to eat. This cook book can help a student make delicisious healthy meals with only 5 ingredients.
Why Didn't They Teach me This in School? - Let's be honest high school doesn't teach us all there is to know about the real world. This book lays out 99 personal money management principles to live by.
8. Laptop, iPad, or Tablet
For those students needing an update on any of these devices, graduation might be the perfect occasion. These devices will help students stay connected and organized during the year. A lot of stores like BestBuy or Walmart have discounted items for college students. Covers or cases for these devices could also make good gifts.
9. Personalized Stationery
Some classes prohibit using electronic devices. So sometimes students need to go back into time and use some old fashioned stationery. Stationery gift ideas include pens, notebooks, post-it notes, and calendars. Journals also make great gifts, as it gives students a space to express themselves and reflect upon their journey. At the end of the year, they can look back on their reflections and feel proud of all that they accomplished.
Personalized stationary is a hot trend right now. At Minted they give you the ability to createinteresting designs for thank you cards and letters. A big trend right now is monogramming. It's a cute and subtle way to stamp your name on things. Then your student will have a nice way to write thank you letters to their teachers and counselors.
10. Personalized Travel Gear
College students do a lot of traveling. Whether it's coming home for breaks, going on trips with clubs or doing semesters abroad, there's a lot of travel. A nice gift idea is to get the student new travel bags with their name or monogram embroidered on it. You can get it done through the site Personalization Mall.
Another popular trend right now is custom passport holders. It's a nice way of keeping their travel memories organized and stylish! Etsy does a lot of personalized passport holders. Check it out here.
What are your favorite graduation gift ideas? Tell us in the comments below!
From all of us at TestRocker, congrats to the grads!
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