It's that time of the year again; time for a new group of freshmen to experience college life for the very first time. Some people can't wait to finally leave home and start creating their own path in life. No more rules you have to follow, no more asking permission, just the nice refreshing taste of freedom; that is until freedom feels like it's not all it's cracked up to be.

Move in day feels fantastic. You can't shake how happy you feel as you move everything in and decorate your room to your liking. You're curious about all the new people that you'll get to meet, what your professors will be like, what kind of activities you'll get involved in, and so on. You're feeling optimistic about all of the things the future could hold. However, if you're like me, the initial excitement starts to fade away as your family leaves and the homesickness slowly sinks in and lingers. You know that you're going to miss the familiarity of home, your old friends, your pets, and your family. Then the guilt sets in and you know that you're being a little ungrateful. You know you should be enjoying college life and be thankful for the opportunity, but you can't shake how anxious and alone you feel even though you're surrounded by people.

You soon discover that another new adjustment will be living in a room about the size of your bedroom at home. You hope that you and your roommate will be able to keep the peace in such a small room. You also hope that having to share a bathroom with everybody on your hall will be bearable. You climb up the steps of your lofted bed (which you'll soon grow tired of doing) and hope that everything will be okay.

Classes start, which is always a bit of a shock to the system. It's time to get back into the groove of things after that long stretch of summer; it's time to say goodbye to slacking off and relaxation. More often than not, you find that your classes are going to be harder than what you're used to and you hope that you will still be able to maintain your grades.

As time wears on, you grow used to college life. Classes are going fairly well, you and your roommate haven't killed each other yet, you're getting a general feel of things, what more could you ask for? Even if college life isn't everything you expected it to be, it's not the worst thing in the world. You just have to find people that make college more bearable. There will be times when you feel like you're not living up to your full college potential, that you go home too often, that you don't go out enough, or that you just aren't involved enough around campus. Just remember that college is a journey that you're in control of, so create your own path and enjoy.