In high school, I was never one of those people who were afraid to go up and talk to someone I didn't know. I also never really had to try to do well in my classes, it came naturally to me. Once I stepped foot onto my college campus, my world turned upside down. It took me forever to finally grasp the "hang of things" but even now I know that I don't have the best grip on them. Here are just a few tips of advice to help get you through those first few weeks after starting your classes...

Make friends with the people in the classes you take.

When you start off, you're more than likely just taking gen eds but if you have prerequisities for certain classes in your major - you might be taking those too. MAKE FRIENDS. They are so helpful if you miss a class or if you don't understand exactly what an assignment is asking. I was added into several GroupMe's for my classes and they were lifesavers. I honestly would not have remembered to do several of my History assignments if it hadn't been for the friends in those classes.

Always do the extra credit assignments.

I took Philosophy this semester and man, it was rough. We covered three different topics: war ethics, philosophy of love and the existence of God. I honestly never understood what we talked about. My professor was super helpful though, which is always a nice things once you start classes (check RateMyProfessors.com to make sure you have a cool professor). He would email me back and answer practically any question or would point me in the direction of where I could find the answer. We had three exams that made up 84% of our grade. You really needed to do well on each exam if you wanted to come out with your desired grade. I wanted an A, I mean who doesn't? I tried pretty hard on my last exam but I made a C on it. I was so upset because Blackboard always showed me my "grade" but it was never accurate since our tests were weighted so heavily. I emailed my teacher and asked what my correct grade was and he told me that because I had completed the two extra credit assignments, I finished with an 89.63 which he rounded up to an A. So, always do the extra creditbecause it could be a different between a letter grade.

Every assignment matters and do NOT procrastinate.

Oh you have a three page summary due Friday that is only worth 20 points? Yeah, it is okay, blow it off and enjoy a night of binge watching Netflix. NOT. Do not let the fact that your parents are no longer around to help keep you focused change your worth ethic. One assignment blow off can soon amount to five or the panic of the fact that it is 11:00 p.m. and you have half a page done for your three page assignment that is due in 30 minutes. 20 points may not seem like a lot now, but when it comes time to announce your final grade, that 20 points may have helped a lot more than you think.

The same with procrastination. Procrastinating gets you no where. I am not saying that the same day an assignment gets assigned, complete it but goodness don't continue to put it off until the night before or the night of. Your best work will not come through, instead it will be more of a hot mess and a lucky B/C.

Find a balance between your easy and hard classes along with having a social life.

College is about finding yourself and yes, as I have stated, class is very important along with your assignments but you don't need to completely push away your social life. You are going to seem overwhelmed after your first few days of class. You're probably going to feel like you have SO much to do and there just isn't enough time to get all your assignments done (they are not all hard and not all of them take a lot of time). You really don't need to stress too much and you need to make sure you interact with more people than just your roomie (not hating on your roomie because mine rocked but you really do need to get out more). College is where you make those life-long friendships and where you meet people you've been waiting to meet your entire life. These are the people you will be with at least nine out of the twelve months in a year for the next four years so get used to it and get ready for a bumpy, crazy and exciting ride.

Go to class, even if attendance isn't taken and pay attention.

My biology professor did not take attendance, ever. If he did, it never actually counted as "taking attendance" because he normally gave us extra credit for showing up. I struggled in biology, like pushed line between a B/C all semester. While I always attend class, I never paid attention. It's probably why my grade was at fault. I would have to cram each day leading up to the exam just to make sure I would "understand" the material, but I never did. If I had actually paid attention, I probably wouldn't have needed a 98 on my final to get an A in the class. Moral of the story: go to class and pay attention while you are there.

Keep a positive attitude and outlook even when life isn't going your way.

Not everything will be a piece of cake like it was in high school. There will be times when you honestly feel like you just cannot handle the stress of school and working at a job anymore. There will be times when all you want to do is pack up your room, go home and not come back (trust me). Sometimes you really could go for a hug from your parents who live 3+ hours away after one of those days where nothing went right. BUT you just have to take a quick second and reflect on everything that is good in your life. Maybe you have a great support system, maybe you just aced an exam or maybe your friend offered to buy you Andy's. Your life is not terrible. You have a lot of positive things going on in it but you need to make sure that you do not let a bad grade, a fight with a friend or anything of the sort get you down.

Get involved in On Campus organizations and in the community right off the bat.

I was always very involved in high school. I wasn't sure what I was going to do once I got to school but I knew I wanted to be involved. I joined my colleges' yearbook staff and got an on campus job. Both of these allowed me to work with some amazing people who I now get to call my friends and allowed me to know people around campus.

I also started attending a church near my school too and while I haven't joined the church or been "plugged in fully," I still am so thankful. Starting to attend a church outside of the stAte campus allowed me to meet people that I went to school with, many of who I rely on daily, and helped keep my eyes focused on who truly matters, God. I joined a LifeGroup that met on Sunday nights at 5 and while I only joined in January, the friendships I made are priceless and I sincerely wish I would have jumped out of my comfort zone sooner.

You get out of college, what you put into it.

If you put hardly anything into your school work, social life, etc... you will hardly get anything out of it. If you go through college doing the bare minimum, what makes you think you're going to get the BEST job in your field of work? Th number of friendships you gain, solely rely on the amount of effort you put into making those new friends. You cannot expect to go through your time away at school and think that you can get a lot out of it but hardly putting any time and effort into it.

Be spontaneous, take that road trip and have fun!! You only do college once BUT don't forget - you are paying for it and what you do matters. So in the midst of enjoying the free basketball games and events held by the Student Activities Board with your friends, remember there is something called a GPA and responsibilities that you need to take care of first. While your GPA certainly does not define you, it most definitely looks good if it is high.