It seems like just yesterday that I was applying to so many colleges and typing up essays and thinking about the ACT. And now, an entire year later, I’m here, living in a dorm and getting ready for my first college class.

A lot of people around me are saying that college is harder than high school, and that I’ll be getting three or more hours of homework every night, and that kind of worries me.

It’s not that I’m completely irresponsible, but it worries me because I worked so hard in high school. I once went to sleep at four in the morning because I was working on some art projects. I spend an average of two weeks writing a five-page paper (and I’m planning to be an English major). Now I have to work even harder to keep up in college. And it surely doesn’t help that I am one of the best procrastinators in the whole world (probably). When you think about it, it almost seems impossible.

But then again, I did get through high school, and I didn’t just “get through” it-- I was actually pretty successful. It was the very fact that I was willing to stay up until four in the morning that allowed me to earn an A on my art projects. And that one paper that I wrote about "Their Eyes Were Watching God" took me a few weeks to complete, but it is the best paper written by me in existence.

Of course, I’m not saying that I’ll be the best student here at school. Things change, and I’ve certainly changed since walking across the graduation stage. Some of my fellow students in higher grades have warned us about the difficulty of college. They all say it’s harder, and that I’ll be extremely tired, and that professors are adamant and often sporadic. It’s not easy to hear these things and consequently be confident about going into college.

Whatever the case may be, though, I am confident that I’ll get my degrees in four years. I have a really great support system here at Cardinal Stritch University. After being here for five days, I know that I have so many opportunities to excel. There are my fellow students, tutors, mental health advisers, academic advisers, administrators, and so many more people who are here to help me out. With this support system, I am confident that I will be successful, and I won’t worry as much.