College is great and as a freshman, it’s new and exciting and everything all at once. However, there’s also some things that the pamphlets and college visits don’t give away and that’s that it can also be a tough transition. It can be difficult going from living at home to living in a dorm with a roommate and loud neighbors, but I’m hoping that I can help make that transition go a little bit more smoothly.

1. Meet People

This may seem like an obvious thing to do, but it can also be one of the hardest. If you’re like me, you ended up at a school where you knew absolutely no one and you were basically starting over. So sit with random people in the dining hall, go to those boring study halls, and don’t miss out on school activities. (People normally show up to those things for like the first two weeks then they get old so don’t wait too long to try it at least once. It’s a great opportunity to meet people).

2. Go to the Dining Hall

You’re probably thinking duh, why wouldn’t I, but trust me I didn’t for a bit and it hurts your wallet and it also hurts your chances to MEET PEOPLE. The dining hall is a great place for that. It’s the one place where you can see every kind of person there is at your school and if your school is like mine was, it’s the one place where everyone is in the same place at the same time (which doesn’t happen often) and all you have to do is pick a table and introduce yourself. Most of the time, people are friendly. (side note: sitting with random people in the dining hall is actually how I met one of my best friends in college, just saying).

3. Don’t be Scared to Admit You’re a Freshman

I know it seems hard, but no one really cares in college. You can say you’re a seventh year senior and no one would bat an eye. It’s not like high school when the upperclassmen would throw pennies at the freshman (yeah, that was a thing at my high school). No one’s going to judge you for saying you’re a freshman because truthfully, it’s not that serious. Actually instead, they might help you find where building BR is so you’re not extremely late for class.

4. ASK FOR HELP

I put this in all CAPS because I am as stubborn as they come when it comes to asking for help, but if you ask you are more likely to get the help so don’t be afraid to ask your friends, professors, and whoever else is available to help for help. I promise it’s not the end of the world and you’ll feel much better knowing you’re doing things right instead of some other way.

5. The Freshman Fifteen is a Real Thing

Although those dining hall visits can be fun, they can also be bad for your health. If your food in the dining hall is not very good for you limit how much you consume of it. They do offer salads and they do sometimes have healthier options. I know I gained a few pounds when I started college, but you can also do what I did my second semester and give up soda and desserts (because there’s always desserts) and you might get lucky and actually lose some of the weight you packed on.

6. Pay Attention to the FREE stuff

When the school offers free shirts or free events, take them up on it especially if it’s a really cool event or a really cool shirt. This doesn’t happen often so take your chances while you can. Also, when your parents send you care packages, keep the snacks. You may not think you need them, but when you’re up late during finals week you’ll be happy you kept that little snack to munch on.

7. You’ll Have Friends Who Leave

One of my best friends gave me this one because I left her. *insert eye roll* Basically what she meant was that you’re going to make friends in all different grades. You’ll have a few friends who graduate while you’re left at school missing them and you’ll have others that transfer and do what’s best for them. Just know they’re not leaving to hurt you and they’ll probably stay in contact and want to hear about all the great things you’ve been up to.

8. Make As Many Memories As You Can

You’ll want to make memories not only because some people are going to leave you, but because when you look back and think about college, you want to have a million things to look back on. You want to smile thinking about all of the things you did while in college. You want to have moments that you’ll cherish forever.

9. Enjoy Your Free Time

This one is important. If you’re like me and a few of my other friends that I’ve talked to about this, then you’ll quickly realize in your sophomore year or even in your second semester as a freshman that the amount of free time you get starts to decrease A LOT. You’ll never have more freedom like you do when you first start college. Then the classes get harder and the workload increases and you realize that you can’t just go to your dorm between classes and watch Netflix, you actually have to do homework and be productive. So please freshman, ENJOY YOUR FREE TIME.

10. It’s Okay to Not Know What You’re Doing

I put this one last because it’s a nice way to end. Throughout college, you will probably find yourself wondering what you’re doing here and you’ll question a lot of other things too and that’s okay. College is your time to question and explore because as quickly as it came, well that’s as quickly as it’ll past by and before you know it you’ll need to know all these answers. So it’s okay to not be completely sure of what you’re doing, just believe you’ll find your way eventually.