This year has been one of the craziest and best of my entire life. I’ve still got plenty to learn, but here are some nuggets of wisdom I’ve filed away throughout these past 12 months with some quotes from my favorite show of all time, New Girl.

1- Rain jackets are essential to survival.

In fact, all rain gear. Umbrellas, rain boots, rain jackets. When it rains, it’s borderline apocalyptic. Be ready

2- Stock up on Easy Mac.

For those days when you’re way too much of a hermit to walk the few feet to the dining hall and just want to snuggle away your problems in bed with some powdery cheesy pasta. It’s more expensive than Ramen, but definitely worth it. Definitely.

3- Even though it’s a cliché, join a club.

It’s nice to belong to something. To have the routine of weekly meetings, to do community service together, to just have people you know you can depend on. Community is valuable.

4-Budget for coffee. You will be buying massive quantities.

Coffee is the one thing, other than ibuprofen, that nearly every college student relies on in a scary way. I thought I was dependent before college. They may as well just put in IV’s for students taking more than 15 hours.

5- Prepare for finals like squirrels prepare for winter.

Stock up on clean fluffy socks, extra money for coffee, any kind of sugary item that you can think of to give you extra energy, extra notebook paper, but most importantly, SLEEP.