Dear College Freshmen,

Exactly one year ago, I was in your shoes. I packed up my life, said goodbye to my friends, family, and pets, left the comfort of my childhood home and moved into a room the size of a shoe box that someone decided was big enough for my roommate and me to live in for the year. While I knew I was supposed to be excited for what the future would be like at my new school, I felt more lonely and upset than ever before.

The adjustment from high school to college is something no one can prepare you for. You go from having your set group of friends, your set of activities, your set role within your high school and family to being just a face in a large crowd of people from across the country. I knew exactly three people going into school, which I knew was more than some people, but I never wanted to bother them with text messages asking to hang out or grab lunch in fear that I would seem clingy. You are supposed to branch out in college and meet new people, and I didn't want it to seem like I was struggling to those who already knew me.

I texted and called my mom every day, holding back tears each time we said goodbye. I felt like I had made a mistake in college choices since I never imagined it would be this difficult to adjust. I cried myself to sleep the first few weeks, praying for time to fast forward to when I would have a group of good friends and no longer felt like half my heart was still in my hometown. Beginning college was easily the hardest thing I had ever done and the emotional toll was draining.

However, I am here to tell you that it gets better... like SO much better. You will get the hang of how college classes work. You will make friends who become more like family faster than you can even believe. You will begin to make memories that will last a life time. You'll start to love the independence and won't know how to live any other way. No matter how difficult it is to be away from everything you've ever known in the beginning, college will become your new home.

The biggest thing I wish someone had told me is that everyone is struggling, no matter how put together they seem to be. I would walk past a group of girls, laughing and smiling with each other, and I felt as if someone had stabbed me in the heart. I questioned my self-worth and second-guessed everything about myself since I didn't seem to be making friends as quickly as everyone else. But what you don't see is that everyone is putting on an act, just like you, to seem like they are okay.

There is nothing wrong with you or your emotions, how you handle the adjustment and how you cope. Never feel like you are doing something wrong or are more or less upset than those around you. I was ashamed of myself for the amount that I cried in the beginning, but looking back, that is how I coped with what was going on around me and I shouldn't be embarrassed. College is a HUGE life adjustment and you deserve to deal with it in whichever way helps you the most.

And you know what... you may not be upset. You may not cry and you may make lifelong friends right away. But for those of you don't, please never feel like you are alone and eventually these feelings will pass. College really is the best time of your life and now, as a sophomore, I cannot wait to go back and see my friends. I love living on campus and being independent. While I still miss my family and friends, I know I am going back to a life that I love just as much.

So if you are a college freshmen and life gets hard and you don't think you'll ever stop being upset, just remember this advice:

1. Everyone is struggling with the adjustment, no matter how they act.

2. One day in the very near future, your college life will fall into place before your eyes and you will never understand how you were that upset in the first place.

Love,

A College Sophomore