For some of us we just tend to be born with a natural sense of worry whether it manifests itself within a form of anxiety or we just tend to constantly be thinking of what could go wrong. We find ourselves steering clear of anything that could possibly be optimistic and assume the worst. We worry about ourselves, our family, friends, grades, the kid down the hall, whose name you don't even know, and probably much more. And yes, this kind of worry is something that could happen to anyone at any stage of life, but it seems to take a different form for some of us as we enter into college. We are away from home for the first time surrounded by new people and new places. Now, that sentence in itself could cause some to worry. But bottom line: This brand new experience can bring about some brand new worries.

Being away for the first time can cause some of us to gain a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out.) I don't mean necessarily missing out on adventures with your friends or the most up to date gossip, but missing out the important things. Your siblings' accomplishments, your family's health issues, or even Sunday BBQs. You worry about not being there for a sense of support or to offer a helping hand. You aren't around to see exactly what is going on or what exactly happened and all you have a bits and pieces of information you get from your contact back home. Causing you to sit and say, "what could or should I be doing?"

You may also find yourself worrying about your friends, both new and old. Do my new friends like me? Do I like them? Will we be lifelong friends like everyone says you meet in college? These are all thoughts that may flood your head as you encounter some of your new peers. You find yourself wondering if you're measuring up to the expected "college experience" of meeting new friends and having the time of your life. And all while worrying about your new friends, it is not far from your mind that you have your friends back home to worry about. Are they doing okay away at school? Are they finding replacement best friends? Will they still want to hang out this summer when we're all home? These are just additional thoughts about some of the people that have grown to know you the best over the years.

Lastly, a common thought in the back of our heads is the thought of the future. For most, we find ourselves in college in hopes of getting a good job when we leave. And for some before we can even try and get that dream job we have two or three years tacked on to our undergraduate education. Adding more worry of course. Will we land that job? Will I get into grad school? Are my grades good enough" Am I doing enough now to get me to where I want to be in the future? All questions that haunt so many student's head.

But at the end of the day when we find ourselves trying to calm down we realize we can't get ahead of ourselves. We need to take each new challenge in stride and believe that we're in the right place, at the right time, doing what is best for us at the present time. We need to live in the present, and take in every minute of college because before we know it we'll be crossing the stage at graduation and thinking of all the new things we'll have to worry about in the real world.