Life has a way of kicking your ass. Sadly, this is non-negotiable. If you want the good, you have to also take the bad. However, you shouldn't fret.

As college students, the phrase, "Things Happen," takes on a completely different meaning. Things happen to us a lot. Then we aren't even used to dealing with these issues, as it's the first foray into adulting for most of us. Fun.

One thing that I learned during freshman year was that when things happen, take action. Do not sit idly because it definitely does not help the situation. Do not get lost in your sadness or anger over what happened. Here's why:

From the big things to the little things, your responsibilities in college are essentially solely yours. The small ones, like missing an assignment, the big ones like bombing your midterm; if you don't take care of it, it only gets worse. Situations cannot resolve themselves. So, e-mail your teachers. E-mail your TAs. Check the syllabus for bonus credit. Find out what you have to make on the remaining assignments to get your desired grade. Find the solution. Nobody is in college to fix your problems like high school. A professor's job is not threatened by a certain percentage of people failing their class.

And it's not just academic situations. You lose friends in college too; you lose people that you deeply care for. You don't wake up every morning feeling beautiful or handsome. Your family problems don't just disappear because you went to college. These situations seem to be infinitely harder. It's not easy to take action when these kinds of things happen. That doesn't mean that you can't. However, only you know what action you need to take. When dealing with situations that involve emotional or mental healing, the solution is very individual.

I stress taking action because that's all that you can do. And once you have done everything that you can? Let it go. Things happen.