Hey girl,

It's your older, wiser, sophomore self. You're officially done with high school, and you're about to be a freshman at a big university here in a few weeks - how exciting! I just wanted to let you know right off the bat that you're already doing so many things wrong!

First off, I know you're really stoked about how you signed up for three honors college classes in addition to your two regular classes. I'm here to let you know that that is a big mistake. You're going to be working part-time and going to school full-time, so basically that means you'll have no-time left over. How the heck are you going to do the extra homework for THREE honors classes on top of everything? Well - I can tell you that it's going to be super stressful, and you're probably going to cry a lot. My advice is to change your schedule ASAP, and stop trying to challenge yourself too much.

Also, I know you've got Monday through Friday classes, and you plan to work six days a week. This is also a bad idea. Your life will be so much better if you take a few days off work each week in order to get your crap together. I know you might be short on cash, but it's definitely worth it to get your homework done and still have time to see your family afterward.

The best decision you'll ever make is to invest in a good weekly planner. You'll start off the semester not wanting to use it, but you will learn that writing all your upcoming assignments down in the planner will totally help keep you sane.

Just so you know.. your professors pass out a syllabus so that you know what to expect ahead of time. You aren't allowed to act surprised anymore when you come to class and "didn't know you had an assignment due." Seriously, they give you that info in advance. Don't take it for granted.

Don't forget that exercise always makes you feel better. When you start to feel down, head to the gym.

STOP PROCRASTINATING. You've been training these past four years to be a master-procrastinator but its about to really backfire on you. You will feel so much better about yourself if you start to work on (or finish) your papers a few days before they're due instead of a few hours.

Hang in there. This year is going to suck. Even though you live at home and commute, you're still going to miss your family, your dogs, and your boyfriend because you're about to be super busy. It will pass, and summer break will be great. By sophomore year you'll already know all this and you'll be a master at balancing school, work, and your social life.

(Who are we kidding, what social life?)

The most important thing to realize is that your GPA is just a number. Do your best and everything else will fall into place.

Good Luck Dude.

Sincerely,

Your Sophomore Self