It’s August, which means college content is booming, and I wanted to talk about a shift I’m seeing: dorm hauls have gone from “here are the necessities” to full-blown influencer-level productions. In this video, I break down how college influencer culture is seeping into everyday college life—where everything is perfectly curated, themed, monogrammed, and suspiciously expensive. I react to examples like Pottery Barn dorm setups, moms filming full dorm tours, and even off-campus “college house” hauls that look like someone’s decorating a magazine spread. And listen—there’s nothing wrong with having money or parents who can help. My issue is the unspoken pressure this content creates for young, impressionable students who are already trying to figure out life at 18. If you watch a few #dormhaul videos, your feed starts serving you $2,000 decor carts like it’s normal, and suddenly you’re questioning if you’re “doing college wrong” because you don’t have scalloped lamps and matching acrylic organizers. I also get into the overconsumption side of this: rotating aesthetics every year, buying way too much for a literal shoebox dorm, and how all of it feeds waste (if you’ve seen dorm move-out dumpsters, you know). My big takeaway: you don’t need all that to have a good college experience—especially when finals hit and you truly will not care what your lamp looks like.