I was ready to go to college for the longest time. I loved my home, my dog, my friends, my two jobs, babysitting regulars, being only an hour from the beach and the city, the list goes on. However, I was not at all nervous or hesitant to leave for college. A lot of people that I know were anxious though, which surprised me, because I was more excited than anything. I think that since I had envisioned going to college for a while before the time actually came, I thought through things that people were only just starting to realize. It also had helped that my older friends would tell me reassuring things about being away from home and such on their breaks from school. So for those of you out there who are nervous to start your college adventure (and even to those of you who are pretty confident), here are a few things that you might be worried about with some mini pep talks that should ease your mind about leaving the familiar behind, and venturing out into the "great unknown".

1. I'm going be a loner and look dumb. You will make at least one new friend on the first day. It is 99.9% guaranteed. Everyone is in the same situation as you, they are a little anxious about being a loner, a little anxious about looking dumb sitting alone. Just smile and introduce yourself to people, it's honestly not dumb, and it's really, really, easy. Sure the people you meet your first day might not be your close friend by the end of the year, but as time goes on, you'll naturally and easily find a few or group of friends without even really trying too hard.
2. I'm going to lose touch with my friends from home. Honestly, this is partially true, but not in a bad way. I would FaceTime or Skype with some of my friends throughout the year, and sometimes I would visit them/they would visit me at school. For the most part, however, we all didn't talk too much. We were all too busy and didn't have much to discuss in group chats or anything because we didn't know everything about each other's college lives. We were worried about how when we returned home for breaks, things would be awkward between us. We were so wrong. Even though we don't see each other nearly as much as we did when we all lived at home, we had millions of things to talk about, ranging from vacations, to funny short college stories, to annoying things at home, to high school gossip and drama. I love my friends so much and am incredibly thankful to have them in my life.
3. I don't know how to do my laundry. It's not hard. I helped a lot of people with laundry because I'm weird and like to clean and stuff like that, but also because I did my own laundry at home for a few years. Ask your roommate or neighbor for help or look it up online. I separate lighter colors (gray is usually a light color) and darker colors (I don't have many red or pink clothes but I would include maroon in with the darker colors). Follow the instructions on the detergent for how much to put in, usually a capful. Some schools don't allow pods. I put my washer on the warm setting and my dryer on medium and run it twice so it doesn't shrink my clothes.
   
4. I'm gonna be home sick and cry all the time or just generally be sad. No you won't! You don't have time to cry and you won't have space in your brain to think sad thoughts. Trust me, you're going to be running everywhere the first few days to weeks of school that you won't even really think about home too much. If you find yourself sitting in your room feeling sad, you're doing something wrong! Avoid being alone at all costs. I was barely alone throughout my whole freshman year. Go knock on your neighbors door and ask them a question, or go eat with your roommate.
   
5. I'm never going to have time to myself. While I just said that I was basically always with people during my freshman year, there were some times when I was alone and could nap or watch Netflix by myself, or read, etc. You and your roommate probably won't have identical schedules, so you'll have time to yourself where you can do whatever you want. Also, my roommate and I would always be in the room at the same time watching Netflix on our own computers or napping (always with the door open, LOL), kind of in our own little worlds.
   
6. I'm going to hate my roommate. I definitely did not hate my roommate but I did know some people who did not exactly get along with theirs. It's not a huge issue. You'll find yourself in one friend's room most of the time with a group of people, it'll almost be like your designated hangout spot in the dorm building. You really only need your room to sleep. You have the library and common room to study. If you want to get to know your floormates better, always keep your door open. I can't even tell you how many people popped into our room last year to introduce themselves and have a brief conversation; even people from a few floors down.
7. I'm going to gain a lot of weight. You might gain some weight, I recommend finding a gym buddy and not getting dessert every time you have a meal. If you know someone on a sports team who has a routine workout schedule, ask if you can join them in the weight room.
   
8. I'm going to fail all my classes. You'll be fine. I recently heard from an adult that he raised his 2.5 GPA at the end of freshman year to a 3.3-3.4 (around there) at the end of his sophomore year. He would come back from class, go to practice, eat, and then study every Monday-Thursday, and Sunday, for two hours straight without any distractions. (Besides when he had an exam, those days got more time) After he was done studying, around 8 or 9, he would do whatever he wanted with the rest of his night. Sounds like a good schedule to me.
   
9. I'm gonna forget something at home. You probably won't really need it though. But if you do, your parents can send it to you, you can buy it yourself (have a friend drive you somewhere if you don't have a car), your parents can order it and put your address as the shipping address, or they can wire you money if you need a little help.
   
10. I'm going to miss my pet. Yeah there's no getting around that one. My parents and brother would send me pictures of my dog and put him on FaceTime a lot because I really missed him. Sorry, nothing can cure that one. I made an Instagram for my dog because I thought it would be funny. So, I can look at that whenever I want. You could do that too and our pets could follow each other. (SHAMELESS PROMO: My dog likes and follows back if you wanna check him out, his username is dailyrusty)
    

Good luck on your college adventures, I know you'll do great!