When I came to college last August, I basically expected it to be my freshmen experience in high school 2.0, just away from home this time around. Really, I thought, how different could it be? Boy, was I wrong with a capital W.

First off, being away from the comfort of leaving school and going home is a bigger adjustment than you might initially expect or assume. In high school, I always took for granted the luxury of being able to keep the home and school environments separate. You could go to school every weekday on a predictable schedule to see your friends, and come home every day afterward for some needed time to rest, recharge. Whereas in college, your life is not separate in the slightest; in all honesty it’s kind of a constant mash-up of balancing your time spent on school, friends, family, extracurricular activities and your sanity all at the same time.

The realm of academics is a completely different beast in college, and not necessarily a bad one. The schedule is much more flexible, and some schools offer time slots for classes that you may have thought would not be possible. Depending on your luck with registration, you can really make your academics work for you, or against you. A class at 8 am? How about one at 9:30 at night?? Sure, why not? Don’t get me started on Finals Week.

It’s not just academics that are different. Where I went to high school, SYFI was a huge thing, because of the perception that high school seniors are sick and tired of school at this point and thus don’t have as much motivation to do school work. Translating this to college life, I feel as though the roles are reversed; a more accurate term for college isn’t SYFI...it’s FYFI. You know what I mean. Freshman year of college is a time for experimentation, testing the limits of your newly-found freedom. Many people think freshman year is the least strenuous in an academic sense because you are mostly taking entry-level courses and GEs. No parents, no problem: you choose exactly what you want to do with your free time (which, you’ll soon discover, you will have way more of than you think is possible).

Then there’s the obvious lifestyle adjustment: roommates. You will never realize how much you value your alone time/privacy until you are surrounded by your peers 24/7. There is a surge of excitement that comes along with this thought, and I assumed it was going to be fun at all hours. Don’t get me wrong; it definitely is a good time, and has its perks, especially making breaks that much more special (mostly because you have your own bed again, a largely undiscussed luxury). However much it will feel like being at summer camp at first, there will be times later on where you long for more privacy or the familiarity of your home/neighborhood/old life. Take a moment to just breathe, and realize you are in a transitional stage in life. If you do happen to get home-sick, freshman year will probably be the worst of it as you adjust to this new way of life.

If I were you in four months, standing nervously in front of my college dorm on move-in, I would say enjoy freshman year of college for all the new and exciting possibilities it has to offer you. There are certainly pluses and minuses to college life. But, there has to be a line drawn in the sand at some point. Because you’re in charge of yourself and what you decide to do with your time in college, make smart choices that reflect who you are and your passions. Try something new. Be flexible and spontaneous, because as you know, plans arise on the fly and you need to be able to deal with that. Be vulnerable. And always, be true to yourself.