As this school year comes to a close, I reminisce on both the ups and downs of freshman year. I learned many valuable lessons, became my own person, and I gained a new and improved sense of responsibility in life. However, with that, most of my fellow high school friends can say the exact same. The only difference was that they don’t have to experience freshman year as a UNH Wildcat.

1. 200 Dining Dollars a semester wont ever be enough money.

When the time comes around to begin discussion of what meal plan you will be deciding, it often may be a challenging one. How many guests are going to come visit? What does a meal exchange mean? How much extra money do I want to have for food? Regardless, 200 dollars a semester for food is never sufficient especially when you live near Wild kitty or Pita Pit.

2. No matter what, you will always be sleep deprived

You could sleep 14 hours or 4 hours, yet it will never feel like enough. No matter what, as a college student you will always be tired. It's just one of those things.

3. The more friends you make in a class, the easier it will be.

Once you come to terms that everyone in your class is here for the same reason, just to pass the class, you should try to know someone. Taking online tests, doing homework, or even having someone to sit next to makes the course so much easier and you learn that you’re not going through it alone.

4. Portsmouth is the best place to go for any occasion.

The Wildcat Transit will bring you to one of the best places you will ever go to near Durham, Portsmouth, NH. There are many little small shops and coffee houses along the main road and often musicians or artists on the side of the road for the public. Within walking distance there is the World War I Bridge that connects Portsmouth and Kittery, Maine, which is awesome to walk across on a nice sunny day. There is never a bad experience you can have there.

5. It's perfectly fine to eat dinner alone.

It’s a strange concept. Eating a meal all alone inside a large dinning hall may be scary, but trust me it is much better than starving. No one will judge you if you’re sitting alone and sometimes a friendly person might come over and join you!

6. You won't ever be able to figure out Blackboard, no matter what.

Blackboard, which will soon be Canvas is probably the hardest website known to mankind to understand. This website has many different ways to access the same page and is always being renovated. I swear no one truly understands how to work it.

7. The more you get involved, the happier you will be.

In high school, it was a lot easier to find what you loved to do, but coming to a bigger college was a lot different for me. I tried out the Rowing Team in the beginning of Fall semester and found some really awesome friends there, but it just wasn’t for me. Eventually, when I joined Ski and Board Club, I had something to look forward to every week -- tests and work wasn’t so impossible to get through. It's also a good way to get your mind off all the work you need to do.

8. Xfinity on Campus sometimes can even be better than Netflix.

Whoever decided that any student at UNH should be allowed access to Xfinity on Campus was a genius and should get some type of award. I bought Netflix as a student, but find myself going on Xfinity as it has more current movies and let's me watch live TV too. Although you have to be on campus to do this, it is a go to website when you’re trying to avoid all the work you need to get done.

9. There will always be some sort of construction going on, learn to be flexible.

Whether it's the renovation of Hamilton Smith that makes you walk all the way up and down a huge hill, or building the new Whittemore Center that wakes you up at 7 AM on your day off, construction is always happening. Just one of those unavoidable things.

10. Snow really doesn’t exist in NH.

At most, UNH got 3 snow days this winter. So, when people ask me if I like snow and if that’s why I picked UNH, I really don’t know how to respond. There was little to no snow this year, which made it odd going to school up North.

11. There are some really cool people here that all have a different background than you. Get to know them.

Living in a small town I always found that I knew everyone, where they came from, who their parents are, and where they live. Coming here, that isn’t the case. Many people have some type of story to them, making them who they are. Meeting all different people is probably my favorite part about UNH. Each person is unique in their own way and unlike high school, I can be friends with a variety of different people at the same time.

12. Freshman 15 is a real thing.

I used to swear it was a myth until it happened to me. Get to the gym, eat healthy, or soak it up. Whatever way you choose to deal, it will happen, just trust me.

13. Your experience is only what you want to make of it.

Looking back, I wouldn’t trade my school for any other one out there. I found some really cool people, I made some awesome memories, and I found where I love to call my home for the next 3 years. What you want to come out of college is all in your hands.