Dear Freshmen,

Very soon you will be embarking on your next journey in life and leaving behind everything you once knew. Well, 18 years waits for no one because one day you’re learning how to ride a bike and the next you’re picking out dorm room decorations. You’re going to feel a nervous excitement that also has some sadness mixed in and that’s normal. But the good news is that college is one of the best times of your life and the sadness that you experience right away will be overcome with new people and memories to last forever.

When you first get to college it feels like a sleepover camp with no rules. Just like sleepover camp, you will get annoyed at times with whomever you live with. It’s hard not to get annoyed when you are practically living in a shoebox with someone every day for months. But enjoy their company because as soon as you know it freshman year will be over and you’ll be out of the dorms. And surprisingly, you will miss all the memories you made in that tiny little shoebox.

College is the prime opportunity to buy that thing you’ve always wanted without your parents knowing. Well, let me inform you that “thing” will slowly turn into things and soon as you know it you can’t even afford something at McDonalds. Save your money freshmen. When you think you need something truly evaluate whether if you do because it’s not a joke when they say you go broke in college. Just because your parents can’t track it, doesn’t mean you should buy it.

This moment to start new is not a moment to lose who you are. Stay true to yourself and don’t lose your identity freshman year because you want to fit in. I’ve seen a lot of people do something because they thought it was a part of the college experience, but deep down it wasn’t who they were. Don’t stray from the person you were before you stepped foot on campus. Soon you will come to find that there are people that love your unique personality and don’t need you to be someone you aren’t. It’s more important to be the best version of yourself than losing yourself in the process of becoming someone you’re not.

If you’ve ever heard the expression, “Go hard in the paint,” then college is the perfect time to test that, but be careful. You have four years of college if you do it right. Don’t waste all your energy on the first year. My motto in life is to have fun and worry less (even if that worry part doesn’t always happen). But I try to tell myself that we only get one life so we might as well have fun. There’s a moment in college-fun where partying and going out might not be fun anymore. Trust me. It might be hard to believe but going out three almost four times a week is not fun when you’re knee-deep in papers and studying. Don’t let studying consume your life to the point where you can’t go out and have fun, and don’t let going out and having fun result in a wasted education.

Freshman year goes by extremely fast. I remember walking around campus feeling strange because I didn’t feel old enough to be there. Well, soon enough I’ll be walking around an office wondering how I got to that stage so fast as well. It’s true that time waits for no one and that is why I advise all you freshmen to live in the moment and enjoy your first year of college. This is your last year ever of being a freshman, so enjoy it.

Sincerely,

A Learning College Student