Growing up in Manhattan, New York City, I was always surrounded by different personalities and was used to a fast-paced vibe. When it was finally time to apply to college, I knew I wanted a change from what I had back home. Like many kids who grow up in the city, I wanted a taste of something a little different.

I yearned for independence and freedom and a commute that didn't involve being harassed on the train by the latest nut job that managed to get on at the same subway stop as me. I applied to five universities, all of them having a medium/large campus. It was a challenge to find a school that had everything I was looking for, but I finally came around and found the perfect school for me, with an accreditation in my major (public communications).

I immediately got to work creeping online and on Facebook, and I got connected to other kids going to my school. I joined the app GroupMe, which was basically a huge group chat. From there, I met a lot of really amazing people, and we branched off as the collective cool kids and created our own group chat on our phones to stay in touch.

These people ended up being my first (and best!) friends on campus since we started talking almost five months before move-in day, and even hung out during the summer. Meeting them on campus and sharing a couple months with them, as well as new faces, really opened my eyes as to who I am as a person. I learned a lot about myself, and I am feeling super reflective this year since its *2 0 1 7* ! (yay!)

So, here I am, passing on the wisdom imparted unto me through my own experience in college. I've compiled a list of ten things that I learned my first semester. Here we go!

1. My counselor lied to me -- High School did not prepare me for college.

I don't mean to say that I didn't learn a bunch of super useful stuff in my college class, because I definitely did! I learned how to fill out the FAFSA and apply for scholarships and write essays for applications. However, college and high school aren't even remotely similar. I had to be at school from 8:35am - 3:15pm every day and take five classes a day, where my homework was due for those classes the following day.

In college, none of my classes started before 9:30 this semester, and they ended around noon. I took only 2 or 3 classes a day, (depending on the day of the week) and only met two or three times a week for those classes. Homework wasn't due until a week later at least, and some assignments were given almost a month to complete. I had a lot of free time, and was able to do all of my work with no problem. High school was WAY more stressful by far.

2. It is NOT like the movies. Like, not even a little bit.

So maybe I was just ignorant and based all of my expectations for college on movies like Pitch Perfect, Dear White People, and Project X. (All great movies, by the way, check them out if you haven't already!) But seriously, on my first day I was really expecting a bunch of singing kids and cheerleaders running around while football players walking with varsity jackets on mixed into crowds that passed through the student union where sororities and fraternities would be pitching up booths to recruit potential new members.

I was super wrong. Everyone in college is so different, and everyone has their own interests and activities that they participate in. Nobody is pigeonholed into a stereotype or a 'role' that can describe them as a person and what they contribute to the campus. In my experience, theres students who did sports who were also in greek life while maintaining a position on the E-board for an organization on campus.

People are chameleons, and I really saw that during my first few weeks in school. Honestly, the only thing that the movies got somewhat right were the parties. The parties are so fun, with great music and dancing and tons of new faces that are potential friends.

3. It's okay to say no... and it's also okay to say yes.

When I spent my first couple of nights in my suite, I was very aware of my freedom to do whatever I wanted. I went to sleep at 4am after hanging out with all my new friends, Krispy Kreme donut in hand to munch on in bed (for sweet dreams). I got to do anything that my heart desired, and there was nobody to tell me yes or no... which was great! Except, I had to learn how to determine whether or not to say yes, or no. Sometimes, it's really easy!

Like, someone goes, "Hey, Gabriela! Come hang out with this sketchy group of people in the park at 2am and like two girls you kinda recognize from your Thursday 11:45 class! It'll be really fun and only involves you trusting us completely even though we just met!", to which I would respond,"Hell no, and just because my suite door is open does not mean walk right in, wacko."

Sometimes, it's not so clear, though. It took some time, but I got better and really thinking about what I wanted to do, and what I wanted my reputation to be like at school. Taking a second to really consider the repercussions of your actions, (and the possible benefits!) helped me to get confident in whatever I chose, whether to participate in an activity or not. As long as I always put my own happiness first, I knew I was doing the right thing.

4. I still need my parents.

Okay, yeah I know I just said that I'm basically a full on adult thats completely capable of taking care of myself because of my amazing insight- but really, I still found myself phoning home time to time. Whether it was for money, (money goes really fast in college), or help with making an appointment, or just someone to vent to, I really did need my mom. She was always there for me when I needed help, and that goes for other family members too. My first few weeks at college, I was super neglectful of my family because it's really easy to get caught up in all the excitement and bustle of the new school year.

I learned how to not be an awful kid, though, and realized that I needed to stay in touch with my family back home because, I had to face it, family is literally going to be there forever. Might as well treat them like decent humans and let them know (just admit it!) that I missed and love them.

5. I definitely CAN function on two hours of sleep.

Except I shouldn't. Also, 'function' is a very loose term... zombie walking and being able to speak (maybe?) some sort of comprehensible version of english is definitely functioning, but not an ideal situation to call my reality. Sleep is something sacred and holy and there's just so much time in the day that there is no reason for me to be wishing I was snoozing during a lecture. Also, when I don't sleep I am not very friendly, and I get very cranky and hungry. I learned this the hard way, and theres nothing worse than waking up after being sleep deprived and picking up all the damage done by past sleep deprived me.

6. I ate. I ate absolutely everything.

If food was presented to me, I inhaled it. Chewing even became somewhat of a foreign concept to me as there was just SO MUCH FOOD to ingest. One of the best parts about being a resident on campus is that I had a meal plan, which gave me access to our dining hall. The dining hall was basically an all-you-can-eat buffet featuring a dessert station, ice cream bar, cereal section, and five different mini 'restaurants' where menu items ranged from Italian to American to Asian fusion foods.

On top of that, there was also a bunch of chain food places like subways and salsaritas and starbucks for me to spend dining dollars on. As if that wasn't enough, theres also takeout from all the local restaurants! I work at Chipotle, so I would even eat food from there, and stop by drive throughs on my way back to campus. (Did I mention that McDonalds nuggets are 6 for one dollar by my school? Yes. I would walk in there with a five dollar bill. You do the math.)

Needless to say, it was pointed out by (multiple) family members that I did get a little bit chunky when I came back home for thanksgiving break. My grandma said it all went to my butt. I love my grandma. I fully intend to resume my relationship with food on campus and take it a little more serious by changing my meal plan so that I have more swipes to enter the glorious palace that is residential dining.

7. It's okay to not have a friend group.

There's so much pressure to 'fit in' in high school that just doesn't exist in college. I was lucky enough to come in with a great group of people who I knew I trusted and could count on to hang out or have a sleepover with or go to events and parties together. However, that doesn't mean that I didn't have my fair share of lonely days.

I wasn't used to not hanging out with the same four girls from my high school every minute of the day. We did everything together, and I was a little thrown off by the fact that I was just expected to do things on my own. I adjusted, though, and went to different organizations and events on campus by myself. There, I made tons of friends.

In a way it was kinda better that way because now when I get tired of one group of people, I have a completely new group to go hang out with! (Just kidding, I love all my friends equally, but you know what I mean). Bonus points go to making friends that have cars or live off campus -- that really makes college a lot more fun because there are mini adventures that come from those kinds of perks. I really found out who I was because I was able to feel comfortable doing different activities and not worrying about whether or not my friends would think it was cool or anything like that since I already had friends waiting for me when I got there!

8. Get familiar with the syllabus.

My professors worked hard creating a very specific outline of all the homework assignments, grade breakdowns, test dates, and class expectations. I wrote out all the dates for everything in my planner. (If you don't have a planner, I honestly don't know how you live, because I simply cannot exist without my little pocket calendar telling me when and how to live each moment of my life). Having everything there from the get-go really makes it easy to plan out the entire semester.

I personally really found it useful to have the 'number of excused absences' written down, because some days, like when I was up all Thursday night partying studying, I just needed to take a Friday off to myself. It felt so much better to relax when I knew your grade won't go down by a whole letter if you miss that one class. (And, equally as important, I learned to force myself to get up and GO to class if I used up all the excused days!)

9. Know my limits.

Learn them, memorize them, and abide by them. This was something that I learned through watching a lot of my peers. I knew I didn't want to be the girl at the party who got escorted out for being too rowdy, and I also knew I didn't want to be the girl who was dozing off in class for not sleeping enough the night before. Limits are limits, and once I crossed one, I knew I shouldn't ever push them again. I know my limit on eating chicken nuggets in one sitting is 26. I will never pass that limit again. never.

10. I changed, whether I liked it or not.

I am not the same person that stepped onto campus on move-in day. I am more confident, more social, and just all around happier. I have been able to explore my culture and make new friends that I would have never met back home in the city. I always thought Manhattan would never be topped, that I grew up in the best place on Earth, but one semester in Buffalo was all it took to teach me that there is so much more to life than skyscrapers and fancy brunches.

I'm looking forward to next semester, I really am.