So here’s what they tell you about college before move in, and here’s what you’ll have yourself believing in:

College is fun. College is the best time of your life. You meet really cool people. You experience really cool things. You get to live life on your own for the first time. Things get a million times better after high school. You’ll have crazy stories to tell. Now, you really can start working towards your lifelong career. You’ll find your future bridesmaids, or groomsmen. Maybe you’ll even find your future spouse.

Do not get me wrong, many of these things can and will happen, but what they don’t tell you, is that college is so much more.

And here’s why that's important: If you only have yourself believing in all of the supposed “perks” of college, you’re in for a dangerous ride.

See, here’s the thing about life, you’re not going to live a perfect one. You’re going to experience beautiful things, no mistake about that. You’re going to see things, experience things, and meet people that will absolutely change your life. Maybe it’s your first love, or the first time you wake up in the morning and think “what the hell happened last night.” Maybe it’s when you find yourself up late at night eating ice cream and laughing until your stomach aches with that one person and you think, “this will be my maid of honor one day.” Maybe it’s as simple and life-changing as sitting on a roof at six a.m. in the morning with your blanket and coffee, watching a set of beautifully foggy pastels rise with the sun.

Regardless, it is evident we will experience beautifully wonderful things. But what we need to be prepared for, what college freshman need to be prepared for, are the things that are not.

As a college freshman, here’s what you need to be aware of:

You may experience heartbreak. You may fail that test you studied hours and hours on end for. Your clothes might get ruined in the cheap laundry machines. You might run out of money.

Let’s be honest, you will run out of money.

You might submit your greatest application yet to an organization that rejects you. You may be mistreated. You may be taken advantage of. You may find yourself confused, conflicted, or overwhelmed. You’re going to see things and experience things that may negatively take your life for a turn.

For the first time, you’re going to be truly on your own, and life is going to throw everything it has at you.

So most importantly, be prepared for this:

There will come a time, or multiple times, when you are physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted.

It is going to happen.

It is not just going to be that one night where somebody broke your heart or you get a poor test grade back, it is going to be a moment where everything that has hurt you, everything that you shook off with a smile, everything that you set behind you, everything that has led you conflicted or confused, will hit you all together.

With so many new things and experiences and responsibilities thrown at you in just a few months, I want you to know that it is OK to feel this way.

It is OK to feel broken, to feel like everything you thought you knew about the world has shifted.

It is OK to be exhausted, to feel lonely or sad or disappointed at times.

Most importantly, however, it is OK to not know where the future is taking you. You do not have to have your entire life planned out at this moment in time because — let’s be honest — you hardly know anything about the world yet, you’ve hardly truly experienced it.

But here’s what’s really important. Like I said, it is OK to feel this way at times. When you hit a wall, when you hit these moments of pure physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, it is OK to go through these emotions. However, there must come a time when you stop.

There must come a time when you wake up in the morning and decide to start living a life of vibrancy and spontaneity and simple joy in what the day has to offer.

Do not get me wrong, this is incredibly difficult. This is much easier said than done.

This requires extreme persistence, effort, energy, and strength.

But here’s the cool thing: We’re all capable of it.

We all have the capability to live a truly extraordinary life. We have the strength and the energy, no matter how broken or exhausted we may feel.

And it starts one day at a time.

This is key. Do not look forward. Do not look back. Live now, live here, and give it all you’ve got. Stop beating yourself up about the past, about who hurt you, about mistakes you’ve made or things you wished you would’ve done or how things could’ve ended up differently. Stop stressing yourself over the future, over finding your future husband or wife, over getting the perfect body and finding a million friends, over getting yourself the best job making the most money.

Not only this, but people are going to tell you life is complex.

This is false.

Life can be complex, we make it complex. But in reality, it is a simple life.

It’s a life where bad things happen, good things happen, and we have the opportunity to respond to these things. It’s a life where, yes, there is heartbreak, but there is also love. It’s a life where, yes, there is death, but there is also life. It’s a life that we need to live through the simplicities —and this will make battling the exhaustion we all will face so much easier.

Take a flight going anywhere. Go on a road trip with your closest friends. Learn how to fly an airplane. Go hiking through Alaska. Sleep under the stars. Kiss someone unexpectedly. Be kissed unexpectedly. Buy yourself an overly-expensive edible arrangement. Jump into a pool fully clothed. Climb a water tower with your closest friends. Write something in wet cement. Do the things you think you’re too busy for, too young for, too old for, and too poor for.

Wake up, open the blinds, and choose to live the day you’re blessed enough to wake up to. Live life simply. Everything else will fall into place, I promise.