Freshman year of college can either be the best or the worst time of your life. Your freshman year often sets the tone for the rest of your college career. College is the time to explore new things and discover yourself.

Here are a few tips for making your freshman year the best that it can be.

1. Live on Campus

If you have the option to live on campus, do it! Living on campus allows you to get the full college experience of moving out and living in a dorm. Living on campus also allows you to meet other students from all over without ever leaving your dorm. I go to school in the same city I live in and if I lived at home my freshman year, I wouldn't know as many people as I do now. I wouldn't have been involved in organizations, either.

2. Get Involved

Freshman year is one of the best times to get involved on campus because everything is on campus where you live. You also meet people by becoming involved. Most of my best friends in college are through organizations I'm involved with. Getting involved also allows you to network and make connections that will help you when you need an internship or when you graduate and need a job!

3. Go to Class

In college, you get to make your own class schedule and you can either take all your classes back to back or schedule breaks in between. The most important thing you should do is go to class! I hate waking up for my early classes but remember, this is why you're in college, to go to class and get a degree! Every time you skip a class, think of it as losing money since you're paying to go to school. It's also easy to fall behind after missing just one class.

4. Take Advantage of Your Meal Plan

When freshman live on campus, most colleges require them to purchase a meal plan. A meal plan is included in your tuition and is basically prepaying for your weekly meals. With a meal plan, you never pay tax and the price of most meals are usually covered completely by the plan. I would also recommend getting meal plan dollars just in case you don't have enough meals to last you a whole week.

5. Be Safe

Freshman year is usually the first time most people leave their parents and live without supervision. While it's fun to party and go out, always stay safe. Never go anywhere alone or let any of your friends go places alone at night. While many colleges have police call boxes if you feel unsafe while walking at night, it's best to use the buddy system!

6. Have fun

College is supposed to be the some of the best years your life. It's not supposed to always be serious. This is the time where you have the most freedom and the freest time. Go to sporting events with your friends! Go to parties! You don't want to look back at college and say it wasn't fun or it was the worst time of your life.

Most of all, college is what you make it and I say make it fun!