Dear incoming freshman,

It's been a week since National Decision Day and roughly twenty million students have enrolled in a university or college and made the decision to pursue a higher education. Though it's an increasingly more and more popular decision being made as more and more professions require or prefer degrees as prerequisites for application, it is a decision that will decide not only what you might do with your future, but also the person you might become. Going to college isn't just about getting a career. It also isn't just about partying and being social. It's become a stepping stone for adolescents as they transition to full independence. As someone who has just completed their first year of university, I'd like to pass on some advice.

School is school. Being in college means the nature of education changes, but it doesn't change what is required of you academically. You should go to all your classes. You should study and do all your work. You should try your best and put your best foot forward at all times. It's not inherently easier or harder than high school because there will always be something new and challenging and difficult to grasp and understand. It's okay.

You'll make friends. You will. I was sure I'd never ever meet anyone. I didn't think I was capable of making friends. I always thought I was really bad at it. Low and behold, here we are. I've met people who I've come to love and hold dear to me as though they are my family. You'll find people you work well with and that you get along with. You'd be surprised at the number of people who think the way you do and have the same goals as you.

It's OK to be homesick. You will miss your bed back home and your mom and the places you used to go while you were in high school and that's fine. Just know that wherever you are, you can make it as special as you'd like, and remember, you'll make great memories while on campus too! It's new and different, but it's exciting!

Embrace change. This goes hand in hand with the one before. Embrace your change in environment and in routine. It'll be okay! Embrace change in the people around you, the people you knew, that you will know, and within yourself as well. You will not be the same person you were a year ago. Regardless of what stage in life you're at actually, you will always change. Change can be good if you want it to be. You get to build yourself, and that's pretty cool. Let it happen, and let yourself grow.

You'll be OK, trust me.