They say the first year of college is the best year of college. Whoever "they" are might just be right. The work load is typically easier, you're making new friends and new memories and you're learning how to function in a whole new atmosphere.
The first year of college is a true learning experience. Here's some of the many things you'll learn that first year:
1. You'll learn how to ask for help. I'm as stubborn as they come and asking for help isn't an easy task for me but my freshman year of college, I got a heck of a lot better at it. You'll learn how to ask for help in the classroom, and you'll learn how to ask for help outside of the classroom. I can't even tell you the amount of times I had to ask for emotional help my first year of college.
2. You'll learn that you really do love your family. If you move off to college, you'll really, really miss your mom or dad cooking and cleaning for you. If you stay at home for college, you'll appreciate the fact that your parents get to do that kind of stuff for you while all of your friends that are living in a dorm are eating Ramen noodles for literally every meal.
3. You'll learn to rely on God more for comfort. Although we should rely on God completely through all things, college makes it a lot easier to rely on Him. Knowing that if you fail a test or if you even fail a class you'll still be loved totally and completely by the Lord is such a comfort and stress reliever when you're struggling.
4. You'll learn how to cram. You'll also learn that it doesn't work that well. Everyone thinks they know how to cram. We all took tests in high school but college is a different world. When you have four finals all on the same day, you really learn how to cram. After those four finals, you'll learn that cramming really isn't effective and that all-nighter you pulled while cramming just made you fall asleep during the said final.
5. C's get degrees! This term was probably the thing that came out of my mouth the most during that first year of college. The first day of classes, I remember thinking, "This year, I'm getting all A's!" but by the end of that week, it was all "C's get degrees!" College is hard. Don't beat yourself up over not having a 4.0.
6. You'll learn how many different ways to cook Ramen. "Dude, I put ranch and garlic powder in my Ramen today and it was basically like chicken alfredo!" That sums it up.
7. You'll learn to care a lot less. Everyone that I know, including myself, mellowed out once they got to college. It's okay to not have a ton of friends. It's okay to not be "popular". It's okay to not have perfect grades. It's okay to wear pajamas to class and cry in public.
College is fun but college is college. There will be days when it kicks your butt, there will be days when it teaches you lessons, and there will be days when you love life and never want to live outside of a dorm room. Cherish all four (or five, maybe six) years that you get to go to college but remember all of the fun, life-changing things that you learn that first year.
