1. People think that it is still high school.

There are cliques. People will just not like you, and you won't know why. People will talk behind your back, and friends will stab you in the back. It seems as if people just forget that highschool is over, because they still act like high schoolers. I was on a team my freshman year before I transferred, and I was so miserable. Teammates were so mean to me and I didn't know why. I was never the "loser" in high school who didn't have friends, and all of a sudden I was. I had to meet people outside of my team and make friends, and I couldn't be happier that I met them. My best friend from freshman year, Emilie, is the reason I survived. Every day I miss her and wish she was just down the hall. Anyway- don't let the highschool mindset get to you. You will find your "group." You will find those people who you can hang out with who won't stab you in the back whenever you turn around.

2.STUDY!!!!

My first semester of freshman year, I had a 1.8 GPA. I never studied in high school, and school always just came so easy to me. I didn't realize how incredibly important it was to study until I did so poorly my first semester. By sophomore and junior year, I felt as if I lived in the library. I was there for a minimum of 3 hours a day. My GPA has gone up to a 3.3, but I wish I could go back to that first semester and actually study. Now that I'm a senior and only have a couple of classes and internship I don't study as much, but I know when I need to. Studying makes you

3. Friends > relationships

Whenever I got into a relationship with a guy, I felt as if I couldn't be happy without him. On top of that, the guys were never even good to me! Even though they were always shitty guys, I still did everything I could to be happy with them or make them happy. I ditched friends or missed opportunities to hang out, I wasted so much time and money, and I spent so many hours just pretending to be happy even though I was miserable. I will never be that girl again. Believe me when I say that I will NEVER ditch my friends for a guy again. I wish I knew that the relationships with any of these guys wouldn't last, because things would be so much different.

4. Get to know people

I was the type of person who would only hang out with people who I thought I would get along with. I was the "judge a book by its cover" type of person. One of the biggest pieces of advice I would give my freshman year self is to get to know as many people as possible. My best friend and I talk all the time about how we used to hate each other. I remember the second day of field hockey preseason my sophomore year (at my new school), Michelle looked at me, said something, and I just hated her for it. Neither of us remember what she said, but it was so sarcastic that in my mind I was just like "I don't know who you think you're talking to." I just hated her and I was mean to her when she came near me. Turns out, we're perfect friends. The reason I didn't like her was because I didn't understand that her personality is exactly like mine. We have all of the same likes, dislikes, and we do everything together now. I wish I took the time to get to know her my first year here!

5. Not everything will work out

Now, people always say "things always work out in the end." In the end, yes things will work out. But a lot of times, things don't work out now so that in the future, things will work out. My whole college career has literally just been things not working out. I switched roommates in October of freshman year because we didn't say a word to each other for like a month and we just didn't work out together. I had a team that wasn't the nicest to me ever, and I had no idea why. I made friends and then lost friends because they were not who I thought they were. I liked guys who didn't like me. I switched majors, and then ended up transferring! I absolutely loved the University of Iowa, but I had to pick between my dream school and field hockey. I picked field hockey, and for a while, things didn't work out. I hated that I went from a D1 team to a D2 team. But in the end it worked out, because my team won the NCAA title this year! So things will get worse before they get better a lot of times. It's just a part of life!

6. Get to know your professors

Freshman year I don't think I spoke to any of my professors besides occasionally participating in class. Now, as a senior I talk to my professors, I ask them questions after class, and I go to them for help. I even went to a couple professors for letters of recommendation. Getting to know the faculty in your department is so crucial, especially because there are so many students. It helps you stand out a little bit more than the students who just go to class and leave (or just skip). Getting to know your professors can help you during your college career, and also help open doors for the future.

7. Partying gets old

Freshman year after I quit the field hockey team, I partied a lot. I mean- I was at the #2 party school in the country, so why not? Now, I'm in bed at 10:00 most times and feel like a grandma. I would rather cuddle up with my pillows and watch some Netflix, or sit on my best friend's couch and just talk about life. Partying is fun and all, but there are so many other things I like to do with my weekends now.

8. Don't buy the freaking textbooks

I purchased every book I "needed" freshman year. We didn't use the books at all for class! Even sophomore year I got a couple of books that I didn't need! When a professor says "you need this book to pass the class," it is a lie 98% of the time. The only book that I got and ever used was my Exercise Physiology book; but that makes sense since I'm an Exercise Science major. I got that book junior year, and used it for a bunch of my classes. It is the only book that I really think I might even need in the future. I wish I knew freshman year that I should not buy every book that is on the syllabus.

9. Please, please, please don't spend all of your money on food

Enough said.

10. You WILL survive.

I've got less than 2 months left until I'm done with my undergrad, and there were so many times I felt like I was going to just drop out. I can't believe I survived the all nighters in the library, exams where I came out crying, long hours of practice, and piles of homework and lab reports. School has beat me up and kicked me when I was down, but I am so close to being done (and then going to grad school, so I'll basically be in school forever). You can and will survive the craziest, most fun, and toughest 4 years of your early life.