Dear College Freshman,

It wasn’t too long ago that I walked in your shoes and I remember exactly what it feels like. You’re lonely, you miss home, and you can’t believe college tests are as hard as your high school teachers said. But trust me, I survived my first semester of school and I know you will do the same.

I bet you’re still in shock that you’ve spent over a week away from your mom. I bet every time you see a dog you get a little sad because all you really want to do is cuddle with yours in your own bed at your own house. I bet your planner has a countdown until Thanksgiving when you can go home and be reunited with all of your real friends. I bet you are doing all of these things because I did them all too. But believe it or not, you won’t be homesick much longer. Soon you’ll get into the swing of things at college. By Christmas you will have a group of friends that you cannot believe you’ve only known for four months as you are closer to them than most of your high school friends. By the end of the year, they will be your family and take on all of the parts of home that you’re missing right now. Leaving them for the summer will be just as hard, if not harder, than leaving your family was. You’ll always love your family but you will now also always love your college family. You will be more excited to move back in than you are right now to go home for Thanksgiving.

I bet that you’re currently hating most aspects of dorm life. Sharing the showers, having no space for your stuff, and sharing a room with someone you likely are starting to hate. Living in a freshman dorm is a unique experience, but it is so important. You may hate wearing shower shoes, but you will have the time of your life. I miss my dorm last year in a weird way, it holds a special place in my heart. Leaving the room that you lived in for nine months is very weird, you’ll end up getting nostalgic about it and miss some aspects. I can also bet that you are starting to realize you’re not going to be best friends with your roommate. A few lucky people strike gold with random roommate assignments, but most of us don’t. I bet you can’t believe how you will be able to last an entire school year with this person; you may even consider switching rooms like I did. Take it as a learning experience. Learn to deal with someone you don’t like. Learn to get outside of your room, amazing people probably live two doors down. You’ll survive this year, it will go by faster than you think and you will get to live with someone who actually likes you.

I want you to stop worrying about school so much. You’re a freshman, no one is expecting you to have your life figured out yet. No one is forcing you to declare your major or get internships lined up or know be prepared for the work world. I spent so much time freaking out about what I wanted to do with my entire life, but you can’t plan 50 years ahead. You have to just chill and take some classes and talk to an advisor. Don’t be afraid to change your mind, I am not where I thought I would be academically right now and I’m glad for it, I am much happier than I would have been. I bet you are also just figuring out that college is hard. You knew it would be but you probably had no idea it would be like this. You’ve got a million readings, homework assignments, and exams coming up and there is no way to get it all done. You will probably bomb a test or two trying to figure it all out—seriously worse things have happened than you getting a C on a Calculus exam. Your life isn’t over; you’re not going to flunk out. You’ve got to learn from the mistakes and find a balance in all of the things you’ve got going on. You will be fine, you will do better, you will figure out how to get everything done. Even if you don’t do great, Cs still get degrees.

I know you’re freaking out right now, of course you are. Everything is not like you thought it would be and you’ve realized you’re not as special as you thought you were. That’s okay. You’ve got to figure out where you fit in at your school, because there is a place for you. Live in the moment and enjoy this year because you will miss it. Make great friends and crazy memories and all of that bad stuff will work itself out with time. If I can survive my freshman year, you can too.

Good luck, have fun.

Love,

A very happy college sophomore.