I'm about to start my second semester of sophomore year, yet it seems like just yesterday I was in high school. Time-wise it feels like that but maturity wise there's a huge difference. College has taught me so many things so far and I can't wait to see what I'm going to learn in the next two years. But there're a few things I wish I could go back and tell my high school senior self...

1. Don't get comfortable

I spent my four years of high school at two different schools actually. I spent my freshman year with kids I’ve known since I was in first grade. I became comfortable around all of them and considered them a type of family. So this piece of advice is more directed towards my freshman self, saying don’t get as comfortable as I did. As impossible as it may seem, because you’ve lived in this house for 9 years, your parents can decide to just up and move. Those people you’ve known since you were six are now just pieces of your memory. Being forced to move the day after exams were over seemed pretty unfair at the time but trust me, it works out in the end.

2. It's not as scary as it seems the first day

Like I said, I transferred schools right after my freshman year. I went from a small school where my graduating class was 80; to a huge school with a graduating class of over 500 with two campuses. My first day was horrifying, to say the least. I had no clue where anything was, one hallway at Arrowhead was pretty much equivalent to my entire old high school. I wasn’t used to block scheduling and having 10 class periods a day. Initially, I was very overwhelmed and it was pretty hard for myself to start making friends and letting my guard down. I went from a school where I knew everyone since we were five; to knowing zero out of 2000 in one summer. I made some decent friends as time went on and I’m really happy to say that it wasn’t that bad once I let myself relax.

3. The squad will not stay together

Speaking of high school friends, your so-called “squad” of best friends will not stay together after high school is over. Some of them might, and some might completely disown you if you’re anything like me. The summer after senior year my friends kind of just stopped talking to me. It bugged me at first. Seeing all the Snapchats of parties that I wasn't invited to, then after finally getting together they just talk about the stuff they’ve done together that I was completely left out of. Moving on from my high school friends was one of the best choices I’ve made. I’ve made some even better friends at work who include me in way more things than my high school friends ever had in the past four years. I only talk to one person still from my graduating class. So take it from me that if your friends aren’t treating you the way friends should, you will eventually find new ones. It’s okay to not be liked by everyone, the only ones who matter are the ones you care about.

4. Do not take early mornings

My high school started at 7:20 in the morning. You would think doing that for three years I’d be totally fine to take early morning classes at university, right? Oh my god no. First semester freshman year I took an 8:35 a.m class and every morning when my alarm went off at 7 a.m I wanted to die. I still don’t know why I was able to wake up at 6 a.m for high school but 7:30 a.m for college was the worst thing ever. Whatever the reasoning and logic behind it being, just don’t take early mornings, you’ll thank me later.

5. Skip class won't pass

There’s a pro and a con that go hand in hand in university life. The pro is that you can skip lectures! The con, you can skip lectures. If you don’t feel good or can’t pull yourself out of bed (a good example is that 8:00 a.m class you should not take) nobody is going to call your mom and say you missed a class. You don’t only get eight absent days a year like high school. Literally nobody cares in college. Pass or fail is completely up to you. The only person who cares about your grade is you, to earn a good grade you have to want it. If you put in no effort your final grade is going to show that. If you aren’t happy with midterms that is the time to start buckling down, you can still fix it but you have to want it. I really wish I knew all of this my first semester because I gave myself no discipline and really suffered from it.

6. Don't forget the party stage

As much as I’ve been talking about needing to be studious and staying on top of things, don’t forget that you’re finally in college! These are the years we are expected to find ourselves and try new things! Don’t think you have to stay in on a Friday night because you have a test Monday, there are still two whole days to study. Go to that party your roommates have been talking about all week. Odds are you will have a great time. Whenever my best friend doesn’t want to go out on a night I use the quote, “you can retake a class but you can’t relive a party.” It has about a 50 percent success rate so far. Obviously, that’s not a philosophy you should live off of daily, but it’s a true statement. So don’t forget to go out and have fun once in a while, please. Have fun and enjoy your college years!