As a twenty-year-old woman in my junior year of college, there are times when I look back at my past self and cringe. Back then, college was the biggest, scariest experience I had ever had, and there were a lot of things I wish someone had told me before I ever started college.

1. You will be homesick.

You might think when you start that the independence to eat microwave mac n' cheese at 3 am will be worth it, but within a few weeks the homesickness will set in. You'll miss your parents, your siblings, your pets, and especially your own mattress. My advice is to deal as best you can for as long as you can; it'll make it easier on yourself in the long run if you don't cave in and go home on your first weekend.

2. High school in no way prepares you for college.

Your high school teachers will swear blind that college classes will be so much harder, but that's just not true. You get whatever you want out of a college class; if you want to just breeze easily through with a C, you can. If you want to work hard and get an A, you can. In fact, I've taken several college classes that were far easier than any class I took in high school. That said, you should always study for your classes. Getting your first A in a college class, with no teacher or parent looking over your shoulder, is a sense of achievement that is hard to beat.

3. You are not ready

My parents were relatively progressive, and I had a lot of independence growing up, but I still was not ready for college. Although it's supposed to be a transition period, it's still a huge jump from living at home to living basically alone with no supervision aside from a roommate, probably picked randomly from the rest of the thousands of freshmen. It's okay to go a little crazy when this hits you; we all handle the stress differently. Just don't do anything too illegal!

4. You will be more tired than you have ever been.

It might be a roommate that keeps odd hours or comes home late or your crazy upstairs neighbors moving furniture at 3 am, or it might be the homework your professors dump on you the first week just for fun. The good news, though, is that you can nap between classes and coffee is always just a few steps away on any given college campus!

5. Break the rules sometimes.

My freshman year, there was a window in our suite that looked out over part of the roof. Clearly, we were not supposed to climb out of the window and onto the roof, but of course, we did. And we had some of the best times on that little piece of roof.

Nobody's freshman year is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes and has bad times. Whether it's a crazy roommate or realizing you picked the wrong school (like I did), all of the experiences you'll have are valuable and you'll take something away from it. You can't do your freshman year over again, and one day you might even miss it, so enjoy it while you can!