It's that time of year again, where I am starting to think about going back to school. Even though I will be starting my second year of college, I still have the same jitters that I had as a first year. I'm thinking about how to design my dorm room, hoping that I'll be a good roommate, and wondering if I will make any new friends.

I am excited and nervous about what this year will hold, academically and socially. The only difference between this year's nerves and last year's nerves is that I know more what to expect. When I was an incoming freshman, I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into. As I look back on the first few weeks of college, I realize that those were the most interesting, different, strange, scary, and exciting days of my life that I will never be able to relive again, and I wish I had a better idea about what to expect at the time.

With that being said, there is no way that you can ever be "prepared" for your first year and the people you will meet. But in order to give an idea to the incoming freshman reading this, and even for the rising sophomores/juniors/seniors who just want to reminisce, here are the different types of friends that you make your first year of college:

1. The "Day One" Friend

This is the person that you will meet on the literal first day on campus. Now, for some people this person will remain one of your best friends to this day, or this will be a person that you only really talked to on the first day in order to ease your nerves about meeting people and then you don't really hang out with them or ever see them again too much after that first day. Sometimes you remain friends with this person and get together every now and then, but they are not really in your main "friend group" in weeks or semesters to come.

2. The "Three Week" Friend

Now three weeks is more of a ballpark estimate for how long you will be friends with this person, but in general I am referring to the friend that you will hang out, get lunch, and go out to parties with for the first few weeks of school that you think is going to be your best friend, but then you realize that you really don't have that much in common with this person and you were just friends with them because your incoming freshman self wants to have friendships with literally everyone you meet. It is basically the person that you may or may not still be friends with now, but you were definitely a lot closer to for the first few weeks of school before you both really found your steady group.

3. The "First Semester" Friend

Kind of similar to the "three week" friend, but this the friend that you will be friends with first semester, but then drift apart when second semester comes along. It doesn't necessarily happen on purpose, but something about being away on break for a few weeks, or coming back and rushing different sororities/fraternities, or even just coming back and taking different classes with different people, causes you guys to not be as close as you were the previous semester.

4. The Party Friend

This is the friend that you really only see when you go out to a party on the weekends, but you never actually hang out during the week. But for some reason when you are at a party with this person, you act like you've been best friends for years.

5. The "30 Second" Friend

The person that you have one conversation with that you initially think is gonna be an awesome friend to have, but then you talk again at a different occasion and realize that you actually have nothing in common with one another and now you don't even say "hi" to them when you pass by.

5. The Class Friend

This is the friend that you will bond with over how great or horrible your professor is, and you will do homework and projects for the class with this person. But you don't really hang out with them other than that.

6. The Dorm Friend

This is the person who is on your hall who you get along with, but you slowly begin to realize that you probably will not see this person as much or not at all once you are living in two different dorm buildings next year.

7. Your Best Friend

Whether you met on the first day of school, or the last day of second semester, this is the person that you will meet who will change your life for the better. When people go to college, they are often told, "college is where you will meet your best friends for a lifetime." But many incoming freshman make the mistake that they will meet their best lifelong friends within the first week or the first month of school.

This is why many people cling to each other the first few weeks, because they think that if they don't then they won't have any friends. If you are one of the lucky ones that meets your best friend within the first few weeks, great! But don't let it discourage you if one or two months goes by and you still feel like you are not connecting with anyone on that level yet.

Friendships take time, and I promise if you have an open mind about meeting people and give yourself time to grow, you will make those lifelong best friends. It is also fun to explore friendships with different people, and see which people work with you and which people don't.

College is a place to grow as a person and gain confidence in yourself as a student, individual, and friend. I promise that everything will work out for you in the end, even if you do not think so! Never lose hope!