It's early august and most 18-year-olds have one thing on their mind, college. Yes, college can be a wonderful time. You get to venture out on your own, create your own opinions, and make new friends. While this is a wonderful time in your life, you are bound to be unprepared in some areas so here are five tips to make your transition into college a bit easier.

1. Mattress pad; going to college means getting a dorm room and getting a dorm room means getting an uncomfortable mattress. Your bed becomes your best friend in college. From always looking forward to the moment you get to reunite, to rainy Saturday nights, your bed will be your go to. Since you’ll try to spend every waking moment with your bed you should invest in a mattress pad to make those moments much more comfortable. They range from $10-$70. Personally, I got a Tempur-pedic mattress pad and paired it with super soft sheets and it is heaven on earth.

2. College is not like high school; this might be obvious to most of you, but it definitely wasn’t for me. In high school I never had to study for anything, learning was just easy for me. So when I came to college I expected the same thing, I did not study for any of my tests and figured I could do assignments the day they were due. Yah that definitely did NOT work. College is beyond a doubt harder. You’re going to study super hard just to pass and procrastination will destroy you. So before school starts and or during “syllabus week” contact your teachers and tutors and start to figure out the best way for you to succeed. I would hate to see you go through what I did my first semester.

3. Don’t be afraid to venture out in new groups; college is about growing up. While you still have your friends back home those friendships will start to drift. It won’t be anyone’s fault it’s just what happens when you aren’t with someone 24/7 like you were in high school. You’ll need new connections, go out and meet people that have the same interests as you. Join clubs, go out to parties and meet new people. It’s the best part of college, getting to choose who you do and do not want to hang out with. College is the place you’ll make memories at and it’s even better to do so surrounded by friends.

4. Accept the fact you will get homesick; whether your 3,000 or 3 miles away from home, you’re going to get homesick and that’s OK. Nobody expects you to be completely okay with not being home anymore and growing up, it’s scary. You can be sad (for a little bit), call mom and dad, facetime, but don’t go running home every chance you get. You’re in college to grow up, to become your own person and that’s not going to happen if you run home to mom and dad every chance you get. If you get homesick, call your parents and keep the phone call short, then get a friend and go get some ice cream. Think about the new opportunities you have rather than what you had. College is great, don’t spend all your time away from home thinking about home.

5. Become your own person; in college, nobody cares about who you were in high school. This is the chance to break from that stereotypical person you were in high school and become your own person. You can be that person that never wears shoes, you could be the insanely opinionated person in class or a crazy party animal. Nobody really cares what you do, we are all trying to find ourselves and most people are too concerned about their own life to care what you are doing with yours. So do what interests you at the time, not only will you get to figure yourself out some but this gives you the chance to meet people who have the same interests or beliefs as you.

College is a great place, you’ll have highs and you’ll have lows. You are going to make mistakes (a lot of them) and you are going to learn from them. And the sooner you realize and understand those five facts above the quicker you’ll get to being your own self.