This may be cheesy -- just embrace it.

Love every second of college. It’s amazing. Put yourself out there and make new friends. Yes, it is intimidating to talk to someone in your class you’ve never met before, but she or he could be your new best friend or your soulmate. So, get up the nerve and talk to your classmates. If they aren’t your BFF or the love of your life that’s cool, too, because now you at least know someone to ask what you missed next time you skip class.

You will skip class. You may have been the best student in your high school, but sometimes it’s so hard to get up and go to your 8 a.m. chemistry class. I’m not saying it's okay to skip; I’m just mentally preparing you for the fact that you will skip.  And instead, you will go play with puppies with your roommate because she had a bad day. Or, maybe you just failed your first test and want to go get some ice cream. This is also a very important part of college. Days like these are when you will make the best memories and the best friends. Now that I just convinced you to skip class, I will tell you that class is important!

Class is, after all, why you are in college. Kick butt in your classes and form some study groups, because that’s another place you will make some awesome memories with your other awesome new friends. You may even stay up 'til 4 a.m. studying for your biology final at 8 a.m. that day (that didn’t work out as well as we expected). Another thing, in those study groups, you might not actually study all the time. Instead, you might just rant about how much you hate class and how you’re super stressed, and how you’re never going to be successful -- basically, a huge pity party. Still important, because you may not have your family close by, and these friends will become your family.  

For your mom’s sake, don’t forget about your family.  She’s going to miss you like crazy so call her up every once in a while and say, “I love you,” and tell her how college life is going. Your family is great and they will support you no matter what. So call them when you’re sad or when you’re happy, because they really do want to know.  

Basically, just know college is incredible. It is filled with so many opportunities to meet new people and do new things. It teaches you to never take a day for granted. Take too many pictures and laugh too loud because these are the stories you’ll tell forever about things you’ll never forget.