My freshman year flew by scary fast - faster than I ever could have anticipated. The days between saying goodbye to my parents outside of my dorm building and crying as hugging my wonderful friends I made in just a short nine months were all a blur. As so unbelievably cheesy as it may sound, my freshman year of college very well might have been the best year of my life. This past year was the first time I was ever fully alone, working on myself, for no one but myself. I wasn't at college with priorities to impress anyone, do anything I didn't want to do and to do nothing else but really truly solidify who me is. And let me tell you, your freshman year of college will be the most liberating experiences of your life that no amount of anxiety, preparation or excitement can prepare you for. Be ready to experience everything the complete opposite of what you expect and to be in shock and awe of all that you truly are capable of doing and being when removed from your hometown.

I hate to admit it, but I was terrified to start college, to uproot the life I was so comfortable in and move to a brand new city with brand new people. You will never be ready to say goodbye to your best friends, your siblings, your dog, your favorite spots in your hometown and your parents, but you will be OK. No one is ever ready. In choosing my school, I was so confident in my decision and so ready to take on a new stage in my life, but as move-in day crept up closer and closer I found myself second-guessing everything. Second-guessing my ability to meet new friends. Second-guessing my ability to excel in a college learning environment. Second-guessing my ability to be emotionally OK to move to a different state. Second-guessing my ability to stay true to myself and my morals. Second-guessing is normal. Second-guessing where you chose to spend the next four years of your life is normal. Second-guessing is OK. You will be OK.

So my advice to an incoming college freshman: take every single moment, person and experience in. Not just going through the motions of your first year of true independence, but live every single day of your freshman year because at the very end you will be sitting in an empty dorm room with your roommate who you have grown to love in complete disbelief of how fast nine months can fly by.

Go to the involvement fair and join a club or a sport that you have never played before. That sport may be one that you fall in love with. Go to organized campus events and talk to someone who seems interesting. That someone may be one of your closest friends. Go to your academic adviser and change your major once or maybe three times. Go and take that class for a subject area that interests you even in the slightest. That very subject area may be your new major. Go ahead and let your roommate be your person. They will be such an important part of your life seeing the very best and the very worst versions of you. Go across your hall in your dorm and introduce yourself to your neighbors. Those people may end up being some of your very best friends. Go on that date and see what happens - because, why not? Go challenge yourself to try new things. Put all of who you are out there, you never know what may happen.

You will probably not walk out of your first year of college the same exact person that entered your empty dorm room way back in August, and that is OK. You will learn just as much outside of the classroom as you did in a lecture. You will discover what you like and dislike, what you believe in and who you are. You most likely won't be able to sleep the last night you will be in your childhood bedroom. You may even cry and panic a little bit, but you will be OK. You will actually be way more than OK. Your freshman year will be incredible. Mine was an experience that I really cannot put into words even if I tried.

Branch out. Join things. Meet people. Learn a lot. Find who you want to be and what you stand for. Document your fun times. Take everything in. Live every single moment, because your freshman year of college will be one of the best years of your entire life.