College is a hard adjustment, from going from the laid back fun of high school to the quick paced self reliant world of college. It's a hard transition for most, so I'm going to give you my tips and tricks to being the most successful you can be in these 2-to-8 years of college.

1. Keep a planner.

College has an insane amount of things you need to do, and professors don't often remind you about assignments and reading. When you get your syllabus, write all your homework down in your planner for the whole semester. Write due dates, test days, chapters you need to read, everything. By keeping thoroughly organized you allow yourself to see your work load, stopping procrastination before it begins. Write down your weekly goals, and your daily goals. Any events that are going on, write those down too. By having such a detailed plan, you make sure you don't overbook yourself and bite off more than you can chew.

2. Find a club.

Or an intramural, or a troupe, something. It's too easy in college to find 1 or 2 people and only ever be around them. It's so important to put yourself out there and diversify your friend group. You'll experience different opinions and beliefs and you'll do different things. When you're in a group activity, you're being productive, you're working towards a common goal that hopefully improves something. Whether that's cleaning your campus, or improving the moods of those participating. Being involved in the world around you is always a good thing.

3. Do your laundry and wash your sheets.

Please be responsible. I know a guy that slept on a bare mattress for a year because he puked on his sheets and never washed them and just threw them away. Don't be the stinky kid that wears the same socks. Pick a day, build that time into your schedule, and ash your dang clothes. You're responsible for your laundry now, you're an adult, please act like it. Also, wash your bedding once a month, the microbes living in your sheets should be your motivation for that.

4. Eat as healthy as you can.

I know it's not always the easiest to eat healthy, ramen noodles are a constant, and the cafeteria doesn't always serve the best or the healthiest food. Ours often features a mashed potato bar. But try, eat the vegetables that are provided for you, grab a fee apples to eat, go to the salad bar instead of getting a burger and fries, drink water instead of soda, little changes will add up. When you take care of your body, you feel better, lighter, happier, and healthier. Plus, there will come a day when eating garbage will stay on your body forever because your metabolism will disappear, start good habits now.

5. Work out, too.

With good diet comes good exercise. Even if it's a few times a week, work out. Go for a run, join an intramural, go play sand volley ball or disk golf, hit the gym, play with a dog, something. Your body needs movement and your cardiovascular system needs the stress working out puts on it to be healthy. Plus, being active is a good thing. Once again, start good habits now. (Work out to be healthy, not skinny.)

6. Study, actually study.

I don't know about you, but I didn't have to study at all in high school. College is so different. You have to study, your professors don't care if your failing. You need to invest the time into your classes. These classes will influence if you get hired, if you graduate, if you get a degree. Invest 2 hours a day to positively influence your future, 2 hours isn't much in the grand scheme of life.

7. Be you.

Be truly yourself, college is a time to reinvent yourself. Be free to finally be unashamedly you. The popular group isn't really a thing in college, talk to everyone, try to be friends with everyone, start random stupid conversations with "Would you rather" questions. College is the epitome of weird and random friendships, embrace it.