You come into freshman year of college with hope and full of excitement; you forget that you were dropped off at this foreign (but awesome) place with no instruction manual. College is all about learning from the inevitable mistakes that you will make, so here are 10 things that I learned my freshman year.
1. College is hard
I hate to break it to you but the first thing I learned was that college is not just a constant party. It's all fun and games until syllabus week ends and your professors stop trying to make you love them. You may have been able to cruise through high school, but you will quickly learn that you can't do all of your work in one night and maintain your sanity at the same time.
2. It rocks when your roommate doubles as your best friend.
When your roommate is your best friend, you always have a dinner date to the dining hall, someone to have Disney movie marathons with, someone to spend your life in the library with and someone to vent to about your life. So, thank you roomie for being my other half through the most stressful of times.
3. Coffee will be your best friend.
You will soon accept the fact that three cups of coffee a day is perfectly acceptable. You can go get a large coffee at 10 o'clock at night and absolutely no one will think twice about it. Coffee will be your saving grace for those all nighters that you will inevitably pull.
4. Naps will also be your best friend.
You will 100% regret all the naps that you passed up in Kindergarten. The good days of going to bed as early as you please every night in high school are officially over my friend. On the bright side, falling asleep in public is no longer frowned upon!
5. Call your parents.
I know you're excited about being away from home and being on your own but your parents miss you. Call them every once in a while to update them on your life, it'll go a long way.
6. You need your friends.
Being away from your parents, it is important to have your friends. You will meet many amazing people in college that will become the biggest support system you could ever imagine. With that said, don't forget about your BFF's from high school, they gave you great advice then and they still will now.
7. It's okay not to go to that party.
Trust me, there will always be another party. Staying in from a party one night is not lame and does not mean that you don't have a life. Stay in and watch a movie in bed with some Ben & Jerry's, you can go to the next one.
8. ...And it's okay TO go to that party.
Go out and have fun. I may have only gone through one year so far but I can already tell that these will be the best 4 years of my life. Don't let college be all work and no play; go to that party and be with your friends, you deserve it.
9. It's okay not to understand some things.
It's okay to ask a million questions. No one expects you to be perfect and do everything right the first time around. You will make mistakes but it will be okay. It's okay to ask someone (or everyone) for help.
10. You will get through it.
Despite the constant uphill battles and the major L's that you will take, YOU WILL SURVIVE.
