Being halfway through my freshman year of college, I won't say I'm an expert on college life. I've only got a few months of experiences under my belt, and I haven't faced any serious challenges yet other than a mild case of homesickness.

But, I have been doing this college thing for at least a little bit now and, honestly, it's something you learn the ins and outs of very, very quickly. The main takeaway I've picked up is this: your college experience is only as good as you make it.

Let me repeat that again: college is only as good as you make it.

Sure, there will be external forces out of your control. It happens, and sometimes it messes things up. Some schools are not the right fit, and that's okay. I understand that. But, a lot of the time, I have seen friends and acquaintances not put any effort at all and then complain when things are going poorly for them. They usually miss high school and just want to go home.

They tend to blame the school, that it isn't good for them. All of these feelings are valid, sure — it's easy to crave the comfort and familiarity of your hometown. But, plenty of people go through this, and STILL have a great college experience, because they didn't let that yearning for comfortability keep them from having the time of their lives. The fact of the matter is that a lot of the time, it isn't the school, or the distance, or something arbitrary like that that's making them have an awful time. It's that they didn't try hard enough.

Half of the fun in college is making friends and spending an obscene amount of time with them. Whether it be doing homework together or eating entire pints of ice cream, even the most mundane things are fun when you're doing it with a pal. So, if you aren't putting yourself out there, joining new groups, and meeting new people... newsflash: it's no wonder you're miserable.

I know this sounds harsh, and that stepping out of your comfort zone and making friends is hard. I get it, I really do. But that doesn't mean that you don't do it. When something is hard, you don't just give up. That's, like, the number one "golden rule" of life. When facing something difficult, you can't run away and hope it doesn't catch up to you. That's not how anything gets done, and you will never grow as a person if you don't trudge your way through the tough stuff. Sorry, but that's just the way it is.

I'm sorry, but I don't want to hear about how bad things are for you if you're going to tell me in the same breath that you've never joined any groups or tried to make new friends. That only tells me that you didn't try, and you didn't want to make things work. It's really no wonder why they didn't.

College is an experience that you have to take hold of. Things aren't going to fall in your lap. You have to work towards it.