I have been an official college student for one week now. To be completely honest, it is not at all what I thought it would be. I was genuinely excited to make new friends, take classes I enjoy and lavish in the freedom of being by myself. However, I learned VERY quickly, that is definitely not the case. So, here are quite a few things I have already learned in the past week:

1. Do NOT buy 88 cent Great Value bread. Spend the extra money and get the quality bread.
2. Bring as many pairs of fuzzy socks as you can. The dorm is really cold, and a tile floor does not help that situation at all.
3. Be ready to walk. And please, please, please remember your umbrella. Because the one day you forget it, it will rain.
4. Invest in lots of snacks, because you get tired of the dining hall within the first three days.
5. Go ahead and get comfortable with your roommates, because that dining hall will do some crazy things to your stomach.
6. It is harder to make friends in a town or at a college than it is in high school. In high school, you are sort of forced to be their friend because you see them every day. In college, you see the real side of people (without their parents), or you may only know about four people. Hopefully, I find my group of people. Until then, I will continue to get in bed by about 8 and watch Netflix.
7. Keeping that in mind, do not judge others by what you think or see at first glance. Assumptions are not always correct. However, trust your gut, and do not do anything stupid. As my rhetoric professor put it, don’t do anything that makes your parents say, “WHAT THE HE**.”
8. Command hooks are the absolute worst. Do not trust them. They will cause your pictures to fall and smash the ground making a very loud noise at 2 a.m.
9. Professors are not as scary as they are made out to be. You may have one that speaks with a heavy Indian accent very softly in a class of 90, but you may also have some that you would consider a friend more than a professor. They are here to help you, unless you cannot understand a single word they say, then they are here to teach you to speak in an Indian accent.
10. Textbooks. Are. So. Expensive. APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIPS!!!
11. Appreciate the staff: custodial, kitchen, landscapers, etc. The sandwich bar lady, Gwen, is super sweet. Converse with them, they serve a bunch of ungrateful college students all day and would love to talk.
12. Get to know the new town. There are fun things for you and your roomie to do on the weekend; just go explore.
13. The BEST naps you will take in your entire life are the ones you take when you get back to your room after that 8 a.m. class.
14. You may want to practice shaving your legs either in the bathroom sink or in a one square foot shower.
15. At this point, personal hygiene is completely optional. Just brush your teeth.
16. Homework is important. If you don’t do it, good luck keeping that A with the other four grades you get for the entire semester.
17. Practice scaling walls, window sills and ultimately, your bed.
18. Be nice to Cookie and have fun pranking your suitemates. If you don’t know who that is yet, find out more about "The ghost of Sanford."
19. Make a guest policy with your roommate so that no one will walk in on you pantsless or stuffing your face with ramen noodles.
20. Ignore the elephants that live above you.