As I was about to enter college, I was nervous, naturally, but I also decided to read many articles (like this one) about the first-year experience. After reading letters thanking an amazing roommate, lists of harsh things professors say to make you drop a class, and articles lauding all of the new college friends, I had clear expectations about what my first year was going to be. However, I still became faced with the reality. And the reality dispelled some of my expectations.

Expectation: Your roommate will be your best friend. The two of you will color coordinate your room, talk about anything and everything, and you plan to make her your children's godmother. She will be the sister you never had, and you will be so grateful to have a built-in friend at the beginning of college.

The reality is that if you don't know your roommate at all or don't know your roommate beyond social media interactions, there is actually a very good chance you won't like her very much. I hardly ever spoke with my first-semester roommate and I was "sexiled" numerous times in the middle of the night, prompting me to move out and live alone my second semester. Very quickly, I found out there were many other people who had similar situations--roommates who never showered, woke them up in the middle of the night, or were outright mean. Sometimes the stars align for roommate situations, but you cannot expect that your roommate will be your best friend.

Expectation: Professors are brutal. They attempt to make their classes as difficult as possible and expect way too much of everyone. They expect all work to be perfect and all students to be geniuses. They make no efforts to get to know students and are often cold and unwilling to help when you ask.

The reality is that the professors aren't the ruthless tyrants depicted in the movies and most of them want their students to succeed. Yes, college expectations are higher but professors want their students to meet or exceed the expectations. Taking advantage of office hours and introducing yourself definitely help. Believe me, I was always very afraid to approach teachers, but I am telling you as a nervous person that office hours help. Of course, there are bad professors in this world, but you are just as likely to get a bad professor as you were a high school teacher--maybe even less likely.

Expectation: You will quickly meet a brand new friend group that will be "your people." You will go out with these people every weekend, flood Instagram with group photos, and will dread when you all disperse back to your hometowns.

The reality is that it is actually super lonely at college for most people (at least at first), so you may spend a lot of time by yourself. I still do. I need to give credit to some of the great people I met at school, but I have a nonexistent friend group. It has been hard for me to come to terms with the fact that I will try to befriend many people, but they end up rejecting me in the end--even if they seemed friendly in the beginning. People rarely like to say that they felt this way at one point, but I eventually found out that many people felt the same way I did.

Expectation: People party all the time and go out every single weekend. Going out and drinking is an integral part of college life, and you're missing out if you don't engage in it.

The reality is that yes, plenty of people party, but plenty of people don't. And plenty of people have great weekends when they stay in. And plenty of people still go out but choose not to drink. It always appears that people never stay in on weekends because they never post on social media that they're in their bed studying for a major exam--so how would you know? Also, I know people who don't drink at all, but I never really noticed. Nobody judges or cares, and I only know because they specifically said it. The party scene in college is a distorted reality and if you choose not to go out one weekend, there will be other weekends to do so, trust me.

Expectation: Everybody gets into a relationship at college. In fact, many people marry their college sweethearts. College is a time to experiment with relationships so if you don't have a significant other, you're missing out.

The reality is that many people do get into relationships in college, and it may be tough when you're still single. However, being single is not synonymous with being depressed, being unfulfilled, being lonely, being inadequate. Many people out there are still waiting to find somebody and that somebody may not be in college. My parents met after college (and they're still married). Shift your focus to whatever makes you feel happy or fulfilled and somebody may unexpectedly come along. Believe me, I'm single, I'm busy, and I don't feel I'm "missing out."

Expectation: Since you're in class for much shorter periods of time (goodbye, six-hour school days), you have plenty of free time and will get your work done without a problem. It's easy to sign up for a bunch of clubs, go out all of the time, and still get your work done.

The reality is that, as an advisor once told me, the cumulative amount of time you dedicate to schoolwork should be the same as the amount of time you committed to it in high school. However, in high school, you spent 6 hours in the classroom and 3 hours doing homework. Now the amounts of time are reversed and you're responsible for the 6 hours. Balancing everything in college is tough because when the professor says to do a reading, be sure to do the reading. And when a professor announces an exam, it's important to log those hours in at the library or your GPA can suffer. The truth is that you have to do a lot of work on your own in college which does require tremendous amounts of self-discipline.

Expectation: College is the best four years of your life.

The reality is that college can be fun, but it'll also be fun to get married, start a family, pursue a field that you love, and begin your future. I've been told this phrase many times, but I was subsequently disappointed because I had these unrealistically high expectations about college. I try to take my experience one day at a time, embrace the peaks and move past the pits, and know that I should not designate these years as the best years. There should be other great years to come.