To all my fellow incoming college freshmen:

At this moment in time, I’m sure you have a million things on your mind, things that seem important, things like getting to work on time, procrastinating on watching alcohol safety videos, wondering what the difference between a Keurig 200 and a Keurig 15.0 is, having to search the internet for hours trying to find the cheapest version of a textbook you need and, most importantly, making sure everything you have for your dorm room matches. I think it’s also safe to assume this list is causing you a good deal of stress as the days steadily tick by and nothing continues to get done before you leave on the biggest adventure of your life. Getting things crossed off of your college to-do list seems even harder when you want to spend every moment with your friends going out to your usual places and sleeping in, enjoying you comfy bed in the mornings because you know your time to do so is dwindling.

I understand, because I’m struggling with it all myself. I know firsthand that this summer has been bittersweet. It’s been a weird limbo between happy and sad, the “I want cute throw pillows” and “that costs how much?” excitement and the "I'm so not ready for this" reality. It’s a lot to do in a little time, but if I’ve learned anything over the past few weeks, it’s this: Enjoy every moment.

Life right now may be overwhelming and stressful, but I can’t see any other time in our lives that will be this exciting. We get to start over and define ourselves as adults, make new friends and have crazy adventures, but it’s the things we do now that will define who we make ourselves into in the coming weeks.

So take in the nights of running all over creation with your mom trying to find the pink sheets you absolutely have to have and take a few seconds to just remember the sound of your friends laughing next time you are all together. Because yes, these are the things that you will miss the most as we all head to school. We will miss the midnight Wawa runs and our favorite after school traditions. We will miss these things because they are the little pieces that helped mold us into the people we are today; they are the amazing moments we share with the people we love. Every day has given us something new to experience, and it will continue to do so as we start this new chapter. Although the faces around us may change, the people who helped us become who we are will not. So before you say your farewells at the start the semester, just take a few seconds to push the craziness aside and appreciate the small details you may overlook every day. Enjoy things that made who you are now, because the new adventures that will come after this summer of limbo, will make that list twice as long.