Freshman year of college is a huge change for many people, leading to new beginnings, new friends, new challenges and a new college campus to experience. College often has a steep learning curve, providing many lessons to learn in a short span of time. Each year, you get to have new experiences and learn new lessons. I learned many important lessons in my freshman year, so I have decided to share them.

1. Dining hall food isn't that terrible.

It could be that RIT food is pretty good in general, but the food in the dining hall is tolerable and sometimes even enjoyable.

2. Things that were embarrassing in high school are now celebrated in college.

The girl that rode her Razr scooter every day and plays Quidditch was the most popular kid in my orientation group.

3. Don't take any pet for granted.

I have three dogs at home and wasn't able to sneak any of them into my dorm room. As a result, I was incredibly dog deprived for my freshman year. Don't take your pets for granted.

4. Go pet some dogs.

The number of dogs petted in a day is directly related to happiness levels.

5. People suck.

I've talked about this in an earlier article, but yeah. People suck sometimes.

6. The gym is a magical place where miracles happen.

The benefits of working out are no joke and kept me sane through finals week.

7. A little adventure never killed anybody, but it might have brought down their organic chemistry grade.

Disclaimer: Adventuring has actually killed people. Columbus adventured to America and he's not around to talk about it. Just don't adventure too hard or you'll end up like Columbus.

8. Diamonds are not a girls best friend, headphones are.

Finals week in the library with a million other people, you get the picture.

9. The average American college student has $37,000 in student loan debt.

I'm also about 83.2 percent sure that colleges use tuition money as fuel to heat the dorms.

10. If you're going to sneak a dog into your dorm room, make sure you bring one that doesn't make a lot of noise.

This one speaks for itself.