I just want to start off by saying CHERISH every last minute of your senior year in high school! Seriously!! I know everyone says this but take it from a first year college student. It truly goes by in a blink of an eye. There will be days you just miss the simplicity of being in high school. College was a culture shock in so many different ways.

When I was in high school I was just so ready to be on my own so, when I finally came to college it shook me in so many different ways. I just want every high school student to know college is NOTHING absolutely nothing like high school. At first I didn't listen to everyone trying to warn me just like every high school student does.

Oh boy was I wrong.

In a blink of an eye I was moving into my dorm at Kansas State University. It was such a HUGE adjustment. I cannot express that enough. You don't have a parent always nagging you to do this and that. You're now responsible for yourself and your actions. You're parents can't monitor you. You're completely in charge of your life.

So here are some tips and truths about the college life:

1. The professors DO NOT care if you come to class BUT there is typically an absence policy in each class where you're only allowed to miss an "x" amount of classes. After you miss too many you usually get points taken off of your overall grade. So if you decide to skip a class thats on you and there are consequences. Each class is different when it comes to absences you just need to make sure you read the syllabus which brings me to my next point.

2. Unlike high school, college professors really do reference their syllabus all the time. So READ THE SYLLABUS!! Trust me you'll benefit from it. They syllabus isn't usually any longer than 3 pages so just take 10 minutes out of your day to read it. Or at the very least skim over it and get the jest of it.

3. ALSO something that was surprising to me is that not all of your classes will have 150+ students. I went into college thinking that I won't have any interactions with my professors and that all my classes will be big. Yea I was wrong. Yes, all lectures do have at least have 100 students in it. BUT you also have smaller classes of no more than 30 students in it. It feels exactly like high school (yes it sucks). The people who teaches the smaller classes are typically TA's and not actual professors. But they do expect you to participate every day in discussion and some will even learn your names and just call you out. So always be alert and pay attention!!!

4. DO NOT skip class!!! Trust me it is so tempting to skip class and just sleep in. But under no circumstances DO NOT skip! Its easier to skip classes and just sleeping in but you need to fight the temptation and go!! Don't base whether or not you go to class on your roommate. I had a roommate that would literally skip everyday all the time and I let her suck me into her hole... BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER!! I let my grades go and it is now kicking me in the ass now! If you want to be successful you need to get your lazy butt up and walk to class. To put this in a better perspective I had a friend sit down and talk to me about skipping and told me that every time I skip I am wasting about $75 and lemme tell ya that made me start going again. But I waited too long to get my shit together and now I am struggling but still trying my hardest to keep my GPA up.

Oh and another thing high school GPA are so so so different from college GPA's. College GPA's are weighted so one C or even one B can make or break your GPA. I got too side tracked by the partying aspect of College that I forgot the real reason why I'm here and that's to get a GOOD EDUCATION. I know it may be hard but don't lose sight of that because it is super important that each student takes it seriously

So please please please don't skip class... If you take anything out of this it is to never ever skip classes unless you genuinely have a reason to.

5. For the love of the Lord.. SAVE YOUR MONEY!!! It is tempting to go out to eat and go buy this and that. But save the extra $2!! Trust me just save your money and use your dining plan! I wish I saved up my money instead of spending it on pointless things. SAVE SAVE SAVE!!!!

So if you take one thing out this it is that you NEED to go to class and try your absolute best because that is why you're in college if you want to graduate on time and be successful.