To My Little Sister Who Is Starting College,
Welcome to one of the best times of your entire life.
You are finally out of the house and out of Mom and Dad's hair. How exciting is that! You will soon discover your new adult self which is always an exciting time in anyone's life. College is the perfect time to do that.
Since I am the older sibling and obviously have way more experience with college than you do, I would love to give you some advice before starting your freshman year of college even if you don't listen to me at all.
Take every opportunity you got to make friends.
This is my number one advice for you.
I know you aren't the most social person in the entire world but having friends that will support you during this transitional time of your life.
Especially since you are going out of state for school, you aren't going to be able to see your friends from high school as much as you probably want to.
Talk to people in your classes. Talk to people at social events. Talk to people in your dorm.
Take every opportunity you have to talk to people and make friends. Some of the best people I have ever met was in college and I honestly don't know how I survived without for 18 years beforehand.
Join an organization ASAP.
Joining organizations like a fraternity and club was honestly one of the best decisions I ever made at Missouri State.
For you, I know it will help you get out of your shell, help you make lifelong friends, give you opportunities that you never thought was possible, and so much more.
I know sorority life isn't for everyone and that's totally okay. Just go through the recruitment process and if you don't find a group of girls that you like then you have so many more opportunities to join other organizations.
There are so many clubs on college campuses that I bet you could find one you like.
Try to get along with roommates as much as possible.
Living with people you don't know is always a difficult thing to do especially coming to college for your freshman year. Now you know I have had a few really good roommates but I have also had some roommates from hell.
These people could be your best friends for life and future bridesmaids or you could never see them again after moving out of your freshman year dorm. You really don't have to be best friends with them but you at least got to make sure you can live with each other and not fight all the time.
Just please don't keep your room too messy to piss off your roommates.
Mom and Dad will always be a phone call away.
Times will get tough some days. You'll want to talk to someone so who do you call? Mom and Dad of course.
You are stressed that you are going to fail your next test so you call Mom. You will have a fight with your roommate so you'll want to rant to Mom. You will be bored in between classes so you just call Mom.
Mom and Dad will always be a phone call away. It's okay, being a young adult is hard.
Remember the real reason you are in college.
I'm not really worried about you at all when it comes to academics since you were always the smart sibling in our household but you got to make sure and keep up with your classes.
College life comes with a lot more distractions than when you were in high school. You would rather hang out with your roommates or friends than study for your class.
You get caught up doing stuff for your organizations so you ignore your homework. Some weekends you would rather binge-watch Netflix then do your homework.
Just don't forget about anything that will get you points in your classes. You may not think that one or two points will do anything to your grade but more points will always help!
You may take this advice or may just ignore me because you think you know it all but the most important part is to just have some fun when you are there.
College will be the time of your life. I'm so excited to watch you grow and flourish while you are away at college.
Good luck sister!