I, and hundreds of thousands of my peers, will spend the next 6 days endlessly checking off checklists and wondering through store aisles looking for command strips and notebooks. We will sit on our suitcases while our mothers try and zip them while lecturing us on our excessive amounts of clothing. We will pack our cars until our mirrors become pointless and our windows become covered and there is just enough space for us to exist. And we will drive (for some few, but for me) thousands of miles until we return. Just 6 days from today I will be back at college, returning for my second year as a Sewanee Tiger. I will be back on the Mountain that changed everything. I will be back to my friends, back to gorgeous sunsets by the cross, back to endless nights in the library. And as I return, I am not the same young women I was just a year ago. I am not the same unsure, anxious freshman that had no idea what was ahead of me. It's not as simple as knowing your way around campus or finding familiar faces. Freshman year of college will change you more than you can ever or will ever expect. While I know every freshman is reading a thousand versions of Dos and Don'ts, I hope this will make the cut for one of your many checklists. Here is what I have learned:

1) You WILL get home sick.

I, for one, never ever expected to get home sick. For starters, I always fancied myself a very independent individual. I was always that kid who couldn't wait to get out of high school and get out of town. I had been talking about going to college down south since I was 10 years old. So as far as I was concerned, I was beyond ready to leave the familiar for the unknown. But, by the time November rolls around you won't believe how many people, including yourself, begin considering transferring just to be closer to home. Freshman year is tough on the soul. It beats the living hell out of your emotional state. It is all fun and games until papers are due, exams are around the corner, your out of clean clothes and you haven't seen our mom or your best friend in 3 months. You are going to have a few rough nights. As a freshman, I was blessed enough to have upperclassmen as my suitemates and in my dorm. I ended up become very close to several of them, and the best thing they ever did for me assured me that they had the same fears and the same timidity. These are guys and girls who seemed so at home, so unscathed by the college. They had lots of friends and killer GPAs and seemed all put together. But they too felt lost and alone and homesick during their first year. That, above anything else, told me that I could do this. That I was in this place and on this life path for a reason and that although I may call my mom crying from time to time, I still belonged. And you do too. Don't let freshman year jitters make you change your whole plan. You are there for a reason. You are in the right place. And you are going to have the same uncertainties no matter where you go. If you're home sick, make some phone calls. Take some time for yourself. Don't let the fear of uncertainty take away from the excitement of discovery.

2) Going out SHOULD get old.

The first few weeks, even the first few months of college many of us will find the whole concept of the party life thrilling. Especially as a freshman, when you don't know any of the faces around you, you may feel some kind of freedom to let loose because hey- you don't know these people, who cares! And everyone does this right?? For many, it is the first time you can drink without stealing from your parent's liquor cabinets or go out without having to worry you'll miss curfew. It is exciting and it is part of college and it will teach you responsibility and independence and it is okay to participate in all that. However. It will, as it should get old. Going out every weekend will begin to take its toll. You should be feeling tired of it after awhile. You should start wanting to spend some Saturdays in with a blanket and some Netflix instead of at a frat house. And please, for the love of yourself, take those nights. Have some you time. I promise you, there will be other nights. There will always be another party. Do not feel socially obligated to go out all the time. And if going out doesn't get old, if you find yourself never taking a few nights in to study or relax, reevaluate your priorities and check your grades and remember why you or your parents are paying a small fortune for you to be there.

3) You WILL drop classes, or fail tests, or miss a few homework assignments.

I am not encouraging you to do these things, but they will happen. You will not be the star-studded student you were in high school. Things will change. BUT THAT IS OKAY. You are going to slip up a few times and there are going to be a few tests that you study all night for and still not get that A, or that C, you were hoping for. But do not drop classes just because they get hard, or just because you don't love it in the first two classes. The first few classes of ever course are generally boring or seemingly complicated but more times than not your professor will make things clearer as the semester continues. Stick it out. And if you get a bad grade, do not think this is going to represent your college career or question your right to be at that school. You got in for a reason. You have the abilities, your admissions officer already verified that. You just need to realize college is NOT high school. The biggest problem most people face is not their abilities or intelligence, but the other distractions and obligations facing them. You have to manage your own time. The schedule you have had for 7 plus years through middle and high school is gone. You have double the workload, half the classes, three times the free time, and quadruple the distractions. It is a hard thing to manage. So you will trip up from time to time. But the most important thing you can do is to continue to adapt until you find a schedule that works. Test out different class times until you figure out a schedule where you are awake enough to focus in class, but still, have the time you need to study after. Talk your coaches, your professors, your advisors, your boss . All of them can help you balance your time. Find tutors. There is no shame in getting help. And most importantly remember to relax and have faith in yourself.

4) You WILL change.

The people you meet the first two weeks may not actually be your best friends for the next four years. You may only get to see your closest friends from home a few times a year, and you may figure out that some people from home you use to click with, you no longer have a lot in common with. You will be closer to your parents than you ever were when you lived with them. And you may discover that the one thing you planned to major in for half your life is not actually what you want to do with your life. You may switch majors. You may change interests or find new passions. You may grow more, or less, religious than you ever were at home. You may become more neutral, or more opinionated, in politics once you are exposed to various sides. You may not be dating the same person you were when you started college. You may not date at all for quite some time in college. All of these are possibilities. But one this is definitive of freshman year- you will change. You WILL change. AND THAT IS OKAY. You are growing up. Embrace it, love it. And keep coming back for more.

I for one cannot wait to return to my beautiful mountain, to keep learning both in and out of the classroom. So as well head back, or make the journey for the first of many times, let us all have safe travels and an incredible year. To freshman and upperclassmen alike, I leave you with a cheesy quote my darling hippie mother adores: I hate to spoil the ending, but everything is going to be okay. Stay happy folks.