Believe it or not you learn a lot of things in college. Here's a few things to embrace other than your academics.

1. It's OK to be unfathomably stupid on occasion.

Sometimes the most important thing is embracing your stupidity. I'm not saying go out and be so incredibly stupid that you do something you regret or something that results in your parents kicking you out of the house. What I'm saying is that you're only in college once so you might as well mess around a bit and have a little fun.

2. It's not about what other people think, but rather about what makes you happy.

There are going to be a lot of people who judge you for your decisions. Their judgment will make you question your actions but at the end of the day it isn't about them and it isn't their life. If something makes you happy then don't let other people get in the way.

3. You extend yourself for the people you care about.

With all the chaos of college, you don't have time to deal with things that bring you down. Extend yourself for the people you care about and then go about your business. It's a good way to stay happy and make the most of your time. It will also show you who your true friends are because they will extend themselves for you as well.

4. Fail quick and fail early.

The faster you fail, the more time you have to recover. So fail quick and fail early because at this point in your life you have a pretty decent safety net to catch you. Don’t purposely go out and fail but don’t be afraid of failure because it is highly probable that your failure will seem like a crisis in the moment but then serve as a learning moment that will make you grow as a person.

5. Never stop meeting people.

It’s easy to stop meeting people after the first week of orientation. Everyone clicks out of the “make friends” mode but this is what everyone does wrong. It’s better to constantly introduce yourself to new people because you never know who you’re going to meet or what role they could possibly play in your life. People are amazing so why not have a ton of them in your life. The more the merrier!

6. It's amazing how capable you are of finding a balance.

You’ll find a balance because you don’t really have another option. With class, friends, significant others and extracurricular activities, there is so much to do and so little time to do it that instinct kicks in and you just figure it out. It’s the best thing because it’s not a drag but rather a challenge. Your days become extremely fulfilling as you do anything and everything. Maybe you’ll be falling asleep completely exhausted but at least you’ll feel like you were productive as you finished your work and that it was worth it as you relaxed in a good restaurant with your closest friends.

7. It's important to step out of your comfort zone.

A very big part of your college experience is how you grow as a person. If you never step out of your comfort zone, then you’re never going to change and your college life will be boring. Don’t be afraid to try new things because it is likely that you will come across something that you absolutely love.

8. There are going to be crappy days but they aren't going to be the ones that you remember.

There are going to be days where you don’t know what to do with yourself and you feel like the world just doesn’t make sense. But that’s okay. You’re not supposed to be on top of everything all the time. Just know that those crappy days will pass and when you look back on your college experience those days aren’t going to be in the front of your mind.

9. Take full advantage of your weekends.

Your weeks might wipe you out a bit. Homework keeps you on our toes and there’s so much to be involved in that you will be looking forward to the weekend. Take full advantage of your weekends by either recharging or by breaking out of the college bubble. You’re only in college for so long so make sure that you commit to your weekends. If you want to sleep through all of Saturday, then go for it. Just make sure you’re not missing out on anything.

10. It goes by wicked fast.

I blinked and my first year of college is over. You don’t listen to people when they tell you that it goes by fast. You just treat it like everything else in the world, but then you look back and realize that so much happened and you don’t know how it all happened so quickly. Do whatever you can to make sure that you don’t take anything for granted because you’ll be done before you know it.