When you finally get to experience the sweet, sweet taste of freedom that is College, you begin to realize some things that are bittersweet, to say the least.

1. Nope, you have to make your OWN appointments now

Yup, you read that right. You aren’t being babied anymore! You have to make your own appointments, which means the dreaded, talking to strangers on the phone. Hopefully, your conversation goes smoothly, and you don’t end up stuttering after every word! Social anxiety at its finest! Eek!

2. Freshman 15 is REAL

When I started my freshman year I was super confident there was NO way I could gain a whopping 15 pounds, in any time frame. Nooooo way, but yet, here I am 15 pounds later, miserably, calling Papa John’s at 1 am from the library as I sob into my textbooks. Make sure to hit the gym, and try to buy some food at local food markets such as granola bars to snack on instead of fries from the food halls! Dining halls have healthy choices (as well as unhealthy choices). Choose wisely, young grasshopper.

3. The friends on your floor your freshman year, are your friends for life (if you like it or not)!

All those floor meetings, and mandatory activities that we were forced to do, created this beautiful friendship with these people you’ll never forget! You’ll end up having movie nights with these people, and jam out sessions while you get ready to go out together, as well as low points of crying in their arms because you’re so stressed out about your schoolwork, and possibly 4 am pillow talk about how you don’t know what you want to do after college. If you’re an incoming freshman, and you just moved in, go across the hall and talk to those people! Plus, everyone who just moved in doesn’t know anyone else either, so it won’t feel tooooo awkward! Trust me on this one, you’ll thank me later.

4. Greek Life isn't for everyone

A lot of people come into college thinking about how amazing Greek life can be (not trying to poo on the idea of being in a sorority or frat), but some people just aren’t Greek life people: and that’s okay! Some people like to go out, and some people like to stay in! Some people like to go but, but don’t want to be in Greek life. Everybody has a preference, but get the experience of both. Figure out which type of person you’re more like, it’ll help you make the right friends, too! :-)

5. Time management is the hardest lesson of your life, but you WILL get through it

They warn you with this one throughout high school. “You’ll need to really manage your time!”, “You will have free time, but use that to study!”, or “don’t put things off to the last minute!” The humor of this all is that many college students are still terrible with time management even after three years of it, but to make things a little easier, try to manage your time to balance your lifestyles. For example, maybe try to go out only on weekends, to balance your social life, and then focus on work during the week, to balance your school life. Or maybe give yourself an incentive, like you can start this new series on Netflix when you finish a project for class. Time will slip right through your fingers without even noticing, make sure you get all your work done. However, it works best for you, and then go have some fun for working so hard!

6. It's normal to not do well your first semester, don’t stress too hard, but still work hard to fix it

Don’t stress a lot over that C you get that first semester, or even that F! Retaking a class isn’t fun, but if you need to do it, you need to do it. Your parents will most likely be unsatisfied about your performance, but explain to them how you are motivated to bring that GPA up. College isn’t high school anymore, and that transition isn’t easy, nor does it come quickly to everyone. Remember that other people are struggling too, it isn’t just you!

7. Know that you might meet the person you're going to marry in college, but know that you might also not

Don’t set your hopes high by looking for love your first year in college; it will come when it comes! Some people don’t even find their significant other in college, some find them in work, after they graduate! We are young, don’t be worrying yourself about something that will happen in a decade! Focus on yourself, which leads me to my next lesson!

8. Self-reflection is a must

Your first year of college, you will really learn who you truly are. You’ll be by yourself for a lot of time since you’ll be walking to classes by yourself and figuring out this whole bus schedule and campus map thing on your own as well. You will finally find out who you are! You can join activity groups and clubs that have your interest! It’ll help you find people like you and understand who you really are. It’s a very surreal feeling when you are able to sit down and finally be able to answer that impossible interview question, “describe yourself in three words.”

9. Just because you can skip class, doesn’t mean you should!

That’s right, some classes don’t require attendance! But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go! It’s tempting, trust me, I know. But when you miss class, you aren’t getting the information for your course. This habit can easily build up and you can become extremely clueless in a class. It isn’t fun when you end up having a surprise quiz on the information on the day you weren’t there!

10. Don’t stress out, college is scary, but not as scary as your parents make it out to be

You aren’t alone! Lots of students get very overwhelmed their first year of college. I’m a sophomore and I still get overwhelmed from my work! It’s a process. As long as you make sure you balance your social life and your school work, you will be fine! If you ever freak out, your parents are only a phone call away! Take a deep breath: You can do this!