No matter how prepared you think you are, the beginning of college is a culture shock for everyone. Suddenly you’re independent and can spend your time as you see fit, you have to start thinking about the plans for the Rest of Your Life, and you’re living with a bunch of other people around your age who are trying to figure life out just like you are. College is a stepping-stone from childhood to the real world, and just like any other big change, it is a learning experience from the very beginning. To those high school kids out there still waiting to graduate and be free, here are a few things to look forward to:

1.No one cares about your ACT score. In high school, it seems as if your ACT score and your AP classes and your GPA and all your other acronyms are matters of life and death. Luckily, as it turns out, this is not the case. No one cares about any of that. The only thing people really care about is whether you’re nice to them or not. It’s glorious. (As an addendum, these things aren’t really important in high school either, even though it feels like they are. You can still go to college if you don’t have a perfect GPA or a really high score on the ACT.)

2.Sitting alone at lunch can actually be a good thing. Do you have homework to do? Are you hungry? Great, then go to lunch with your books and get your homework done! No one in the dining hall will judge you. In fact, they’ll probably be awed by your productivity.

3.Trying new things is really fun. I cannot read music and I haven’t played an instrument since we all had to learn the recorder in the 4^th grade. (Speaking of which, why did every child in America have to do that? What was it for?) Despite my musical ineptitude, I have joined my college’s pep band as a cymbal player. It’s awesome! I’m doing something completely outside my comfort zone and I’ve met a bunch of new people I might not have met otherwise.

4.Balance is extremely important. Before college, your time is pretty much structured for you. You wake up, go to school for seven hours, do homework, eat dinner, and go to bed. In college, you are the master of your own time. It’s liberating, but it’s important to learn how to spend it effectively. You shouldn’t spend every night alone in your dorm doing homework, but you shouldn’t go out every night either. Balance is key.

5. You probably don’t know what to do with your life, and that’s fine. The question I got asked the most before I left for college was, “What are you going to major in?” As it turns out, that question is pretty much irrelevant. A recent study of students at Princeton University found that 70% of Princeton students change their major at least once, and this statistic is applicable across the country. You don’t have to know what your future holds as a freshman. That’s what you’re in college to figure out.

The first two weeks of college have been enlightening, but I’m sure I (and every other freshman out there) will learn even more new things as time marches on.