As many of you readers go off to start your college journey, you've probably been hearing a lot of advice from friends and family. While getting constant advice can be annoying, there are a few things you really should take into consideration. College is a huge adjustment period, and your first semester has a huge impact on your physical and emotional stability.

You have so much free time in college and it's hard to figure out what you want to do with it. While sleeping the day away sounds like a great idea, it's not healthy or productive. If you were involved in sports, music, or clubs in high school and you don't plan on doing any of them in college, I would highly recommend that you reconsider. But while involvement is great, spreading yourself too thin defeats the purpose. Finding the right balance for you is crucial, because not everyone has the same workload, so take your time when adjusting.

Getting involved in activities is a great way to network and beef up your college resume. It's easier to find people to study with, eat with, and become friends with. Plus, it's a great way to get invited to house parties. A lot of organizations will provide food for the meetings, and some student organizations even take trips or have activities like movie nights, which can be really fun.

I got so involved my first year that I didn't really have time to sit around and think about how I was feeling. Depression and anxiety are common occurrences in college freshman, and while I personally didn't experience any of these feelings, I watched friends go through this. There's nothing wrong with these feelings, but doing something to keep you distracted might help. It takes a few weeks to get adjusted to your class schedule and living with a roommate, but student organizations will gladly let you join any time of the year.

I don't think my first year of college could've gone any better, and I think my involvement in student associations played a huge role in that. You don't have to go crazy and sign up for everything, but you should definitely attend your school's activity fair. I think I signed up on the email list for about 12 different clubs and only ended up really committing to six of them. If you really like the organization you're involved in, you can run for officer roles, such as president, vice president, and so on.

So if you choose not to take my advice, just remember that you really have nothing to lose, so you might as well check out a few.