It’s that time of year again; school is starting and summer is winding down to a finish. I may be going to a different school this year than I did last year, but there are a few truths that I think ring true for every college student regardless of the school they attend.

1. Sleep is a precious commodity.

I thought I knew what "tired" was in high school; I was very wrong. When you’re in college and suddenly are juggling living on your own for the first time, a whole bunch of upper level classes and homework, a social life and oftentimes a job, sleep suddenly becomes a very treasured thing. My first semester of college I averaged five to six hours a night if I was lucky, and my second semester I chose to spend a few less nights in the student union and opted for an early bedtime instead, so I got closer to seven hours. I have never known exhaustion like I did my freshman year of college.

2. It only takes about a week or two for all the food in the cafeteria to start tasting the same.

The food in the “caf” was decent enough…. But after about a week, it was all basically the same. I lived off of the salad bar and the build-your-own-burgers, and occasionally ventured out to try the meat of the day. Mom’s cooking is suddenly on your mind a whole lot.

3. Netflix is your new best friend (when you have the time).

Again, spare time is sort of a rare thing in college…. But when you do have spare time, if you’re not napping, you’re probably watching Netflix. I managed to bust my way through "Friends" and "The Office" during my freshman year.

4. You never thought you would spend so much money on books in your life.

I had heard the stories about how expensive books can be; I never fully believed them until two weeks before my classes started and I was ordering books for myself. Textbooks are crazy expensive, and I can honestly say that I never anticipated spending $160 on a book in my life (and that wasn’t bad compared to some of the books my friends had to buy).

5. Getting sick sucks even more because no one is there to take care of you.

I had to settle for canned soup from King Soopers instead of mom’s homemade soup (which is so good). I was buying my own Popsicles to soothe my sore throats. Buying my own Mucinex to settle down my cough. Making my own tea to sip in bed. I missed my mom all year, but I especially missed her when I was sick.

6. Any interaction with animals becomes the highlight of the day.

Maybe this isn’t true for every college student; maybe it’s mostly girls. But at least for my friends and me, it was an event whenever there was a cat or dog visiting on campus. We would cuddle and play with them. Even when we were all out and about and saw a dog, we almost always asked if we could pet them. We considered trying to hide a dog in one of our apartments, but we figured the RA would catch onto that pretty fast, so we had to settle for minimal pet interaction. But those rare times were some of our favorites, and coming home to visit my own puppies was that much more special.

7. Group projects are the devil.

I only had one group project this year; I got lucky. And my group was pretty fantastic. However, the coordination that goes into completing a group project is a monster all its own. We weren’t actually practicing running through our presentation all together until midnight the night before we presented. And trying to figure out what was happening before then was confusing and challenging. Group projects, though a major part of many classes, are the devil.

8. Realizing you’re becoming an adult is scary and a little bit cool all at once.

I had several “oh my goodness” moments this past year, both when I was buying my own groceries and toilet paper and also when the girl I’ve known since third grade got engaged. People stop asking you what you’re doing after high school and start asking you where you want to go after college (I still have no idea!). Adulting is harder than it looks and can be scary, but ultimately, growing up is an essential part of life and most of us figure out where we’re going and who we are eventually. We're going to be OK.

So as we all start moving back into dorms, buying books and reading syllabi (or skimming like I do), I wish us all the best of luck with this school year. May the odds be ever in your favor!