It's one of the biggest transitions we will ever make. It's a major culture shock for a lot of us. It's the most exciting and the most frightening times of our lives. Suddenly, everything is different. Everything we thought we knew as reality has been taken away, and we're introduced to this whole new world.

After high school graduation, everyone is full of joy. And we celebrate. We have a great summer, even though we can feel that everything is about to change. It still feels far away, until it's not.

And then, the friends we grew up with aren't around anymore. The friends we grew so close to over the years leave. We all go our separate ways. We've been expecting it, but it's more sad than exciting when it's actually happening. We make plans to catch up over breaks, but it's just not the same. It's hard to not see their faces every single day.

We move into our dorms and feel excited again. We don't complain about how small the rooms are, or how disgusting the community bathrooms are, because none of that matters yet. We're just happy about the opportunities that are ahead.

But then our families leave and everyone cries. It's the saddest feeling in the world. It almost feels like they're abandoning us, even though we know they aren't. They're leaving us in this big, scary place that we practically know nothing about. After all of the hugs and tears, they pack up the car and drive away, and after a while, we feel okay again.

We meet new friends, and get to know them. Some people we meet will not become our best friends, and we never get past being acquaintances. But some people will become our best friends. It may take time, but we will find them.

Then classes start. We go through a roller coaster of emotions. At first, we're extremely nervous, because we don't know what to expect. We don't know how different it will be from classes we took in high school. Once we figure out what is expected in each class and start studying, we feel good. It's as if we had nothing to worry about in the first place. We know that we can conquer these classes and get As. But then the first round of tests comes. And we study for hours and cry, and we convince ourselves that we're going to fail and drop out. It's not very fun. But we survive.

We take weekend trips home to see our old friends and family. This helps us break up the time we're apart and gives us the boost we need to get through the semester. They encourage us and support us.

We go to football games and witness the crazy school pride. This assures us that we chose the right school and that everything will be okay.

Now the end of the semester is approaching. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We feel the pressure of impending finals, but we also feel the comfort of home nearing. We can't believe our first semester is already ending. We feel like we just graduated from high school, yet we're registering for classes for our second semester of college. It's unreal how fast the time has flown. We look back on the semester that has passed. We remember all of the happiness and sadness it brought us, and we are grateful for both the laughs and the tears.