I can confidently say that I am in no way shape or form the same person I was when I began school almost three years ago. I credit the majority of my change to my freshman year: a dreaded, wonderful and transformative year. As great as it may have seemed in theory, it quite literally turned out to be a disaster.

College was a huge adjustment that I wasn’t totally ready for. I resented the whole experience my sophomore year, but as a junior (almost senior…help) I now understand how important it was. Hopefully after reading this, you’ll feel better about the C that you received in Calculus your freshman year that is still haunting your GPA.

Freshman year is for making mistakes. Without these, where would you be today? You wouldn’t know how important it is to separate your clothes before you wash them so that you don’t turn a white shirt pink. You wouldn’t have learned time management skills had you not fallen asleep in the shower during finals week after pulling an all-nighter studying for the previously mentioned calc class. You also wouldn’t know how important it is to go to the gym and eat well (thanks, Taco Bell). Who knew you’d lose your high school metabolism?

Freshman year I didn’t even own a planner, but, now, I can’t go anywhere without one. Every minute of every day is planned, and I’d be absolutely lost without it. To be honest, this only resulted from missing one too many meetings with my first-year advisor.

Freshman year taught me how important it is to go to sleep at a decent time so you don’t have to skip a morning class. When you do, 10 a.m. suddenly doesn’t seem so early.

I think it's important to note that not everything that happened during freshman year was awful. I made countless great memories and met many amazing people who changed the way I view things, but even in light of all of that, I'd never wish to do it again. It's always better to move forward.

Maybe you failed a few tests that year, and maybe you’re not best friends with the first people you met at school, but so what? Freshman year is a trial and error period for you to discover how to succeed throughout the next three years. The mishaps that occurred freshman year led me to appreciate my current accomplishments much more than I would have before. Whether you’re struggling through your first year now, or still upset whenever you look at your transcript, have no fear. It gets better.

However, if by some unknown reason you surpassed all odds and you didn’t fail your freshman year… congratulations. Good for you. But don't tell me about it because I’m still a little bitter.