Coming in to college, I thought everything would be a breeze, as was in high school. Sadly, the situation has been quite different. Now, I'm not saying that I've had anything happen that has drastically changed the way I go about life or had something happen that made me change my view on life, but, I have had to switch the way I go about some things in my daily routine, and while I'm still getting used to things, I feel like sharing my experience can greatly help those who will (likely) be in the same position next year.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do." Also, When in college, do as the other college students do. In high school, many students, like myself get by without studying. If I'm being honest, I thought the same model would work for me when I got to Madison, but, I was so wrong. Though I did "study" more than I did in high school, it was nothing compared to what I needed to do in order to succeed, and my grades after the first round of midterms reflected that.

So, I went back to the drawing board to figure out how to do this whole college thing the right way. I figured, "hey, you never read textbooks in high school, so maybe if you read, you'll do better." I replied to myself, "solid thinking, Noah."

(*insert pat on the back or high-five to self here*)

So for the second part of semester number one, I read my textbooks. It was like a whole new world, reading textbooks. I don't think I have ever soaked up so much knowledge at one time, and if I'm being totally honest, it felt kind of good.

With this new mode of study in my back pocket, I went into the second round of midterms feeling pretty good about myself. Sadly, though I did improve, the results were once again lackluster.

I've continued to make changes to my regime, and the way I study, including many more notes, and different locations of study, so, we'll see how much has changed after finals, fingers crossed. Altogether, academically, I have discovered that it is vital to have study skills down before entering school (that one is for you, high school friends).

Another thing that has been shocking is the social aspect of life at college. Honestly, I do not remember it being so hard to get out and be social. I was counseled by family and friends to get out and meet as many people as humanly possible in the first couple weeks of school.

Much akin to the advice I received on study habits, I did not listen and saw my social life struggle because of that. While I put a bit of the responsibility on my room being at the very end of the hallway on our floor, it is largely my own fault for not putting down the Xbox controller, and going to meet people that I'm sharing living space with for nine months.

The fallout from this has been huge.

I haven't made as many connections as I would have liked to, and have missed out on many things going on with my floor because of it. The silver lining in this, though is that I have been able to reflect a lot on the relationships I did have coming into school, and how college has reshaped those relationships, for better or for worse.

Finally, perhaps the biggest thing that I wish I could change and do over, was getting into a solid schedule and routine. First off, I would like to advise everyone who is thinking about taking a 7:45 class to immediately stop considering that option. Much of my life, I have been an early bird type and haven't had any struggle getting up and moving.

Naturally, I thought taking a 7:45 class in college would be much like getting up early for a day of high school. But, with no parents telling me to get out of bed, things got much harder. I think that this, in turn, forced me out of a routine. I was always exhausted getting back from my 7:45 class and often felt extremely unmotivated to do much of anything upon my return.

This led to countless naps and plenty of time spent watching First Take and Coast to Coast on ESPN instead of doing things like studying. As this happened, I wasn't able to make a transition into having a productive schedule. The biggest thing I learned from this is that it is absolutely imperative to get into a steady routine as soon as you can upon arriving at school.

Looking back on it, going to bed at three or four in the morning during welcoming week definitely was not the best strategy for me to get into a routine.

While this may seem like a pity party (which I hope it doesn't), the point of this whole article is to share my experiences with you all about what I could have done better during my first semester at UW-Madison.

I hope those older than me were able to get a good chuckle out of this, as you all probably experienced stuff much like I did. I also hope that those younger than me will take time to realize that college is tough, but at the same time, it is the most rewarding experience I have been apart of. In reading this, I hope you'll be able to be more prepared than I was and experience how awesome college can be from the start.