An Open Letter to Future College Freshmen,

Hello, it’s me. (Sorry I couldn’t resist and now I hate myself). But anyways, it’s me, someone who has recently finished her first year of college, writing to all of the people who are where I was a year ago. There’s a common saying that goes something like this: “Oh, if I had only known then what I know now, I would have stopped it last year when I was still young” (Anna Lee). And so here I am, one of many college students, reflecting on my first year of college and hoping to give you some advice that will make your experience as great as you’re imagining it to be.

My first tip: Stay up late. Drink coffee at 9 p.m. that will wire you for a solid 5 hours. And I don’t mean stay up late finishing homework, although it is important, I mean stay up late with your friends. Spend time with the people you’re going to be around for at least the next year. Spend the energy to get to know these people because they are going to be the best people you will ever meet. They will become your best friends. Don’t worry about that 8 a.m. class that you have the next morning, you’re not going to remember the nights that you got plenty of sleep. This is the time of your life where you can actually survive on less than 6 hours of sleep. (tbt to the times my suite mates and I stayed up until 3:30 a.m. playing cards on multiple occasions)

My second tip addresses y’all right now, who are still in high school, antsy with the anticipation of graduation and all of the festivities that accompany it: Be still. It’s so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of the end of high school, it’s so easy to start daydreaming about moving away, thinking about your grad party, wishing to move out of your parents’ house as soon as possible. Be still. Take a moment to sit back and soak in every experience. Enjoy the mundane things, like the sound of your dad’s footsteps coming down the hall when he comes home from work, or the relief you feel when everything in your house is settling down for the night. Take the time to bask in your favorite time of day, to appreciate the way the sun turns the mountains golden right before the sun is about to set. Enjoy where you are right now because very soon, it’s all going to change. You have the rest of your life to be on your own, to make your own decisions, to live the way you want to live. That newfound freedom is intoxicating, but appreciate where you are right now because soon enough you are going to be sitting at your desk with 5 papers and a test due the next day wishing that your mom could be there by your side. Love where you are right now, appreciate the details.

Finally, to close out this sappy letter, don’t lose who you are. I know it sounds cliché, believe me. College is about finding yourself, discovering who you are meant to be in this world, but there is a fine line between trying to find yourself and losing who you are. If you don’t want to do something, don’t do it. Don’t agree to it if you think you’ll be judged for not participating or if it makes you feel uncomfortable because odds are, people are probably going to admire you for standing firm in your choices. Don’t do anything that doesn’t make you happy. Find who you are supposed to be, but don’t lose the beautifully unique person you have become in the 18 years before college.

These next years are going to be the best years of your life. Focus on school, do your best, aim to get good grades, but also take the time to enjoy where you are because one second, you’ll blink and your first year will be over and done and you’ll find yourself back in your old room wondering how time flew by so quickly and how to travel across the country to visit your best friend because she no longer lives down the hall.

Sincerely,

The emotional nostalgic

P.S. don' be the person who never washes their sheets.