Heading off to college is one of the biggest changes that you will experience in your life. Leaving the nest and starting out on your own away from the family and friends that you have grown up around your life. School surrounds you all the time and the atmosphere is very different than living at home. Sororities and parties and well as dining commons and dances are sure to be slightly overwhelming at first.

1. Get to know your roommate

You will be living in close quarters with this person for the rest of the year, so it is imperative to get to know them very well in the first week or so. Make sure that you set down some ground rules so that your schedules can mesh together, like when lights out is and what happens if one of you has an early morning class. It's great to become friends with your roommate and is a bond that can last a lifetime if connections are kept open between one another.

2. PARTICIPATION!!!!

Participating in school activities is a great way to meet mew people and broaden your horizon of interests. College is a place where you can try new things and find passions that you didn't know that you had, maybe try out for a theatre production when you never had the guts to audition in high school. Try the activities that might not have been available in high school or that you didn't have time for. Make sure that you don't over commit and burnout from over involving yourself but also don't just sit in your room all day.

3. Meet new people but stay involved in your wing

Meeting new people is a necessity of college when you step onto campus it is filled with people that you don't know from all over the world. It is imperative to get out of you dorm room and meet a few of the amazing people that surround you, getting to know people also helps give you a support net that can help encourage you when you feel homesick or help edit that paper that you have to turn in tomorrow. You also want to stay involved in your wing activities and get to know the other students that you are living with. Deepen the relationships that you form and get to know the new acquaintances on a deeper level becoming closer friends. These friends could stay with you for life.

4. Establish a Routine

This will make sure that you complete the multitude tasks that you have to do in the twenty-four hour day that I am given. Making meals a routine part of your day as well as exercise and homework. This will help you to budget your time and balance between social and school. Trust me when I tell you that to be successful in college it is imperative to balance your time in all areas of your life. Balance your extroverted time with time alone where you can debrief after long and hard days.

5. Stay Focused on your Education

This is one of the most important parts being at college, while it may be cliche your education is extremely important. This is the real reason that you are in college and learning all that you can to assist you with your future jobs and goals. Education is ultimately the most important thing that is available at college, learning from every experience is one of the most important lessons that you can learn. Even the horrible experience of ending a friendship or making mistakes can provide life lessons that will stay with you for years after you leave the college or university that you are attending. Absorb as much knowledge as you can in the two or four short years at university or college.