Being a college freshman is the most exciting and challenging time in your life. No matter how much you have prepared for college, there are some things you are sure to learn within the first few months. Here are 10 things upperclassmen wish they knew as freshmen.

1. Goodbyes are hard.

No matter how excited you are to leave home for the first time or call your dream school home, the final goodbyes will be painful. You will second guess everything, but don't worry, this only lasts for a few days.

2. Goodbyes after a break are worse.

After being home for a couple of days you easily slip back into the life you became accustomed to for 18 years. You have had a taste of college and are over the initial hype. That is why the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is so hard for first year college students, and for the rest of us.

3. You will have a ton of free time.

The way college classes are set up are a drastic contrast to the school schedule you previously followed. You will have so much free time in your schedule that you won't know what to do with it. Enjoy this time. Start a new Netflix series, go to the gym, or join a new club.

4. Making friends is not as hard as you think.

By the time people leave for college, they are typically over the high school pettiness. Everyone is eager to meet their new best friend and get to know as many people as possible. Those living in your dorm are like instant friends.

5. Communal showers are worse than you think.

Nothing is worse than taking a shower late in the weekend, or early on Monday morning, before they have been cleaned. You will begin to count down the days until you can shower without shower shoes again.

6. You will get homesick, make phone calls home.

When you're missing home, pick up the phone. You will feel so much better after talking to your parents or even your little siblings.

7. You will hate the food in about a week.

Think your school has all of the options you could ever want? Begged your parents to stay for lunch when you visited your school in high school? In about a week, you will be uber-ing to the nearest restaurant in order to escape the horror that is college food.

8. There are so many clubs to join, get involved.

Colleges offer more clubs than you can imagine. If you weren't the type of person to join clubs in high school, you should rethink that decision when leaving for college. Most students are involved in at least one. Clubs and activities are great resume builders and a great way to meet new people.

9. You will enjoy your classes so much more than you did in high school.

Classes within your major are designed to what you are interested in. You may actually find yourself enjoying class, or at least not dreading them as much as you did in high school.

10. The year will fly by; enjoy every second.

You are only a freshman once: live it up. When you are packing to leave for your senior year of college you will wish more than anything that you could be a freshman forever.