Starting college can be overwhelming. Emotions run high - saying goodbyes, money is being thrown every which way, and finding a roommate feels a little like online dating. Being an incoming freshman is a cool thing because you know other college freshmen everywhere are experiencing the same things you are.

It all starts with college searches and applications, and then inevitably choosing where to spend the next four years of your life. There are different types of applicants. There are the ones who have a “number one” school and they own it, talk only about that school, and apply to only that school and maybe a safety school, with zero expectation of attending any school other than that “number one.” Then you have the people who do not like making big decisions.

These are the same kids that grew up not being able to choose what game they wanted to play at recess. They struggle to make even insignificant decisions, and so they apply to schools all over the country. In the end, they land at a school much closer than anyone would have expected. You also have the world traveler, who really does end up in a school no one has heard of, probably in a state we forgot about. Of course, there are more types of applicants, but these are just a sampling.

After applications and the big decision is made, next comes finding the roommate(s), unless you make the bold move to “go random”. Searching for the roommate(s) using handy, dandy Facebook feels a little like online dating, but it doesn’t help you to be very creative in the roommate pursuit. Every single incoming freshmen posts something along the lines of the following:

“Hi! My name is ______ _____ and I am from a town you have never heard of that is right outside a city you have heard of! I am definitely going to _______ University next year and I wanted to introduce myself. I love ( a litany of random activities), and I am most definitely going to be rushing! School is my top priority but I love going out, listening to music, eating, and breathing! Feel free to message me or add me on Snapchat if you think we could be good roommates! GOOO [fill-in-the-blank-for-applicable-school-mascot] !!!”

Naturally, after reading the posts of fellow classmates and trying to judge them based on the pictures they’ve posted, you decide you're meant to be together. After all, you probably posted the EXACT same message, so you are destined to live together. If you're lucky, after picking your roommate(s) you make a group chat and get to know each other, and hopefully, you make a point to meet. I’m pretty sure guys don't bother with most of this mating and meeting-up process, and I’m pretty sure most girls love their new roommates a lot no matter what.

After deciding on your roommate(s), you then spend the rest of your summer discussing who brings what and who buys what. This also means picking dorm colors and spending an indescribable amount of money on items you probably already have in your room at home. But why reuse something when you could buy it again for no reason!

Besides, you're already spending an insane amount of money to go to college, why not spend more?! As you start to buy your college necessities, you confront the reality that you are essentially moving into a shoe box. Condensing the contents of your closet down to a wardrobe the size of a kitchen cabinet becomes the biggest challenge you have faced this far in your life. Forget SATs and AP tests, packing to live in a ridiculously small space beats them both.

You start to notice that summer hasn’t been as much about what you’re doing, as it is about who you’re doing things with. The days seem to drag as you wait excitedly to move into your new home. On rainy days you procrastinate over reading the mandatory book about the random topic you were assigned to read for orientation, deciding if you’ll finish an entire book after not reading anything in high school. Suddenly there are only a few days left until move-in day, and you wonder how the summer evaporated.

Before you know it, there are only six days until move-in and the conversations become a little sadder and wistful. It’s times like these that you’re really hit with the fact that you’re actually leaving home. The air seems a little sweeter as you tick off all the “lasts” and start to say your goodbyes. Some tears start to flow when you allow yourself to step onto the slope of sad thoughts about what you’re leaving behind. Not seeing your dog every day, your parents, your friends.

You drive by your high school and sigh with relief that you never have to go there again, but when you drive a little further along you start to reminisce about the memories and the lessons you learned there. You think about the idea of not having any familiarity around you. You start to wonder: “Will I ever be alone?” or “How am I going to fit everything in my room?” You think about what life has been like, how you’ve had a routine for all these years, and it hits you like a bag of bricks that you’re growing up and life is changing, irrevocably.

However, there are things to look forward to! Freshmen all around you are thinking of these exact same things - like move-in and awkward luaus they will be forced to attend. Life throws a lot at you this time in your life, and there are a lot of unanswered questions coming at you fast. But one thing is certain, in just a few days, you get to start the best four years of your life!