Coming to college, I was surprised to find out that it was, well, hard. Sure, I expected it to be different from high school. I knew I probably wouldn’t recognize the majority of people I passed by and I would probably have to use Google maps to find each of the buildings my classes were in, but I thought I’d adjust quickly and with few hiccups.  

In my first few weeks of college, however, I realized that this transition wasn’t going to be as easy as I had predicted. While the beginning was definitely rocky, I have finally settled down into some type of routine and I have managed to learn a couple things along the way.  

1. It’s okay to cry.

No, seriously, it’s okay to cry. And I mean really, really cry. In my first few weeks at school I cried all the time. I was embarrassed at first—my parents were paying a lot of money for me to go to this incredible school, and I was crying because I just missed home. I would manage to hold myself together until I found myself hearing my mother utter those three dreaded words, “Are you okay?” 

The majority of the time, I really was okay. It was just that life was weird and different, and I wished some aspect of it could be familiar or normal. I spent numerous phone conversations trying to swallow my tears and put on a brave face. After some time though, I let it all out and told my family how I was really feeling. They reminded me that what I thought was an irrational freak-out was really normal and they told me that college really was weird. I was so glad to know that it wasn’t just me and that no matter what, my family wanted to know how I was feeling and what I had to say about it. 

In a lot of ways, crying made everything better. I’m fairly certain my roommate just got used to it, and I definitely did. Until one day, I just didn’t need to cry anymore.   

2. It’s mostly not like the movies.

In the wise words of Katy Perry, college is not always like the movies. Yes, the parties sometimes resemble something out of Neighbors and your professors are sometimes as intimidating as Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter, but college is not all free and easy. That boy in your chemistry class who you grazed hands with as you passed him your extra copy of the periodic table? He probably won’t immediately sense the electric chemistry between you two and decide to ask you on the most extravagant date you can imagine. 

While it’s not totally out of the realm of possibility, it’s more than likely you’ll have to do some work to make that happen. It’s important to remember that you get out of college what you put in. Join clubs, talk to that boy in your chemistry class, get to know one of your professors—you have to actively attack college and suck everything you can out of it.

3. FaceTiming is fun!

Having had a particularly tight knit bunch of friends all throughout high school, I was nervous about how attending separate schools would affect our relationships. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that it has been relatively easy to stay in touch. I have thoroughly enjoyed FaceTiming my friends weekly, learning about their lives, “meeting” their friends and laughing about the stupid things both of you did that week. 

While it sometimes seems like a daunting task to manage to follow the Girl Scout honor and make new friends while keeping the old, I have come to find that it is definitely possible. I think it has improved my sense of well-being while I’ve been away at college, serving as a reminder that my life at home is largely still intact. I would highly recommend taking the twenty minutes to stop studying and talk with someone you’ve come to miss. Chances are you won’t regret it.