As the third week of school is rounding its corner, I’ve been living on my own for a little over a month. Prior to this month, I lived either with my parents or stuck in between fellow students in the dorms. I thought living in the dorms was a good time; I was surrounded by some of my best friends and it was so easy to just pop in to see your neighbors and don’t get me started on how nice it was not to have to cook your dinner, even if you didn’t necessarily know what you were eating. But now, as I type this, I’m sitting in my own room of my own apartment that I share with a few other girls. But there are no parents to remind me to put the dishes away or to do my laundry. No one is yelling at me to clean my room or tell me when dinner is ready. It’s a different lifestyle.

In my month of living on my own, I have learned a few important things.

Learn how to cook. ASAP.

Don’t let the dishes pile up. It gets real gross real quick.

Take out the trash once in a while.

Pizza is not ok for every meal. Get it together.

Make time for your roommates. They’re the poor souls that have to live with you.

And finally, thank your parents for taking care of you because God knows you couldn’t have done it without them.