A year ago at this time, I was just your average high school grad/incoming freshman, ready to take on the world of collegiate-level studies. I was on cloud nine, so I ignored all warnings and words of wisdom told to me. I was that kid that made it out of their hometown and headed to the college of their dreams to study the major of their dreams. Freshman year of college came and went, and by the grace of God, I am sitting here writing this listicle to hopefully impart a couple of golden wisdom nuggets to those that will need it this upcoming year.

1. Don't be a perfectionist and procrastinate. As someone who is afflicted by both of these deadly diseases, I know firsthand. In high school, it was feasible to start a project the night before it was due, get it done exactly how you wanted to get it done, and turn it in the next day for an A with six hours of sleep under your belt. In college, this scenario is nearly impossible. If you wait until the last minute, you might finish that term paper before the 8 a.m. deadline, only to end up getting a D. If you want a chance to get an A on said term paper, you'll have to start writing it the day the syllabus comes out. If you're a part of the small percentage that can crank out a perfect paper right before it's due. Moral of the story: don't procrastinate on anything, especially if you're perfectionist.

2. Coffee is one heck of a drug. "Caffeine is a stimulant drug, which means it speeds up the messages traveling between the brain and the body." Thank you, www.druginfo.adf.org.au/drug-facts/caffeine, for your words of wisdom and truth. Pulling an all-nighter to cram for an important test the next day is not fun nor recreational. Therefore, coffee is your good, good friend. Coffee will be there for you when your eyelids are heavy from sleep-deprivation and when your professor has a voice that could put New York City to sleep. Moral: for long and late nights or all-nighters or a particularly sluggish day, coffee/caffeine (in moderation!) will be very very good to you.

3. What did we do to deserve Amazon Prime? The answer is nothing but I happy it's a thing. If you ignored #1 of this listicle, you might find yourself in a situation where you'll need this item of the listicle. A Prime membership is around $50-55 for a whole year when you sign up with your student email, but the initial $50-55 paid is the gift that just keeps on giving. In the rare event that you actually need the textbook for a class, the $49 rental version found on Amazon that will be shipped free to your campus mailbox within two to three business days is the version to get. Moral: Amazon Prime is a great and cheap investment to make every year for college in regard to textbooks, laptops, school supplies, etc.

4. Who said you need eight to nine hours of sleep per night? Every medical professional/mom ever is who. If you're like me and you ignore every good piece of advice given to you because you most likely have some deep and dark subconscious desire to self-destruct, you tossed this little nugget of wisdom to the side. However, college isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. Trying to function at top performance all the time as a college student is a death wish because you'll either burn yourself out on the gift that higher education is or you might just die. Both are bad and both can be avoided (most of the time) by accepting the fact that your regular eight hours of sleep per night will shrink to about five hours, and that's completely normal. As long as you make sure to properly hydrate your body (with water, not vanilla rum), eat healthy-ish, have a set day of the week to just veg out, and love the major you're studying, you'll survive. Moral: eight to nine hours of sleep per night is nice, but if worst to comes to worst and you absolutely have no choice, you can function on a solid four or five (for a week max, kiddos).

5. Advisers are a God-given gift to college campuses. If you have the gall to think that you'll graduate college without talking to an adviser, you are poorly misinformed. Advisers are there to do their job: advise! They'll tell you what classes you need to take to graduate and help you build a schedule that works with your life so that you can succeed. If you're blessed enough to have as awesome of an adviser as I have, they'll also probably help you not run your life into the ground, which is always a good thing. Moral: if your school requires you to be advised, set the appointment on a good date and time for you, and be there! If it's not required, make it your own personal requirement to get an adviser, and keep in touch with them throughout your college experience.

6. Tuition costs aren't there for nothing. You (or your parents/school) are paying tuition so that you can go to school and get educated. The only way to do that is by being present. It's so easy to skip classes in college because most of them don't have attendance policies or sign-in sheets or it might be in a lecture hall with 350+ kids, but it really is imperative to go to class. Moral: go to class! If you have/need to skip a class, make sure it's for a good reason and that it doesn't become a habit.

7. She may cry more than you on move-in day, but you'll cry more than her on all the rest of the days. Your mom will cry in the car the whole way to college, the whole time unpacking all your stuff into your new dorm room, and the whole car ride home, but you'll spend at least three times more time crying than she will during the school year. Moms were put on the Earth to tell you to: brush your teeth, clean up your room, watch your attitude, and love you. Moral: call your mom at least once a week and let her pray for you, nag you to eat healthily, remind you to take your vitamins, and love you.

8. $5 is a lot of money. Four soft tacos at Taco Bell costs $4.76 and can be either one or two meals. A venti iced caramel coffee costs $3.15. A Route 44 Sonic drink during Happy Hour is $1.10. The choice is always yours. Moral: it may not be the healthiest way to live, but fast food (in moderation) can do the trick and is fast and cheap.

9. You're more than your cumulative GPA. You might take "Intro to Psychology" thinking it's a blow-off class, and realize one day into syllabus week that you're utterly screwed. This is a rite of passage for every college kid ever, but guess what? God's (and hopefully your parent's) love is not conditional, so that final mark of D- won't kill you. Moral: Your self worth is not dependent on how well you do in a class or how badly you fail a test. The sun always rises, and D's get degrees (but you should strive to do the best you can and make great grades).

10. If you look in the dictionary under "ride-or-die," there will be a sole picture of God there. The biggest reason I can say I survived freshman year is because of God. There were plenty of times when the stress and sadness and uncertainty of life threatened to drag me down, but I had someone to call on and cry to and rant to about how terrible of a roommate she-who-shall-not-be-named was. And at the end of the year, my grades were good, my sanity was still somewhat intact, and I had memories of a lifetime, all because of Him. Moral: God rocks.