You've officially made it to your second semester of college,, woo-hoo! By now you've probably made it to at least one big party, suffered a hideously bad grade on a test, and you've most definitely felt the guilty pleasure of skipping a class that you just couldn't handle that day. You've gotten used to being away from home, making new friends, and handling your shit on your own. As I come barreling head-first towards my senior year of college, I figured now would be a great time to share some of the things I've learned in my three years.

First, one bad grade (or even two) is not going to make you fail out of school and never get your degree.

Everyone has those nights when motivation is at an all time low, or the mornings when all the studying in the world wouldn't help you. That's okay, you're allowed to make mistakes. Trust me, your degree won't come with a little note on the back that reads: "Hey so, Sally actually got a D on a paper for her Ancient Cities in Rome course, this degree is slightly less valid now" because that would be ludicrous.

If you're really stressed over an unforeseen loss, email your professor and express how you feel, you may get offered extra credit or a retake! I know plenty of 4.0 students that have gotten some form of a bad grade in a class, and they made it to a 4.0! A lot of things may seem like it's life-or-death in college, but once you step back and look at the big picture, things start to seem less life threatening.

Also, be extremely careful who you choose to surround yourself with. I know it seems great to come to college (real life big kid school!) and be on your own with a bunch of other people your age; but things can go sour pretty quickly if you're not intuitive. If someone doesn't seem right from the start, chances are your instincts are trying to tell you something.

I had friendships during my freshman year that I thought would last until way after college, only to find out that the people had gone through major changes. Sometimes it works out though, because the people they become, you wouldn't want them in your friend group. Sometimes you just grow apart from friends, which is okay too, not everyone is meant to be your friend forever. Don't waste your time with all the drama, things will work out eventually, and you'll end up with all the right people.

My final point is to remember why you're here.

I know things can get stressful (and just wait, a whole hurricane of questioning is coming your way) and you may get overwhelmed with your expectations; but try to remember what made you come here in the first place. Why this school? Why this program? Why this City/Town? If you remind yourself of your root choices, you'll begin to see things in a whole new light. This has helped me tremendously throughout my time at school, when things just seemed to be getting worse, and I was drowning in homework and I hadn't showed for two days and my life was falling apart around me.

But I took a second to think about what I wanted to do: teach young children, and it re-centered everything. Now whenever I feel overwhelmed, I think about all the cute little kiddos that I will get to educate in just over a year and It puts the biggest smile on my face!

I hope my little teaching moment has given you some stuff to chew on, or maybe helped you with something you're struggling with, after all, it's almost our job to pass the informaiton down!