Congratulations! You are about to embark on a journey that you will never forget. The next four (or five) years are going to change your life, and who you think you are now will not be who you were then. College is a time for you to find yourself — to learn what you want to do and be happy with yourself. It's a time to make real connections with friends and people you may normally never speak to. As a freshman, you will have a lot of opportunities headed your way; please take as many of them as you can. You don't realize how quickly the time will go until you're sitting at your kitchen table filling out FAFSA for the last time.
Join a club, a sport, Greek life — do things you normally would not do. Go to parties and have a blast, be safe about your decisions and never walk home alone at night. Be weary of the caf food — no one really knows what's in it. Use the washer and dryer at your friend's dorm and hangout with them while you wait. Some of my fondest memories and best laughs came from seven girls curled up on a bunk bed while waiting for our sheets to dry. Take freshman year and use it to your advantage. As a freshman, you will get away with so much. Blame the fact that you were 15 minutes late to class on that or when campus security sees you out late just say you're a lost freshman; it'll get you out of a lot of sticky situations.
Go to campus events like bingo or RAH. It may seem "lame," but you're never going to have so much free food offered to you again. Buy your books from Amazon; the bookstore is overpriced. Make your schedule easy; after your first year, classes become harder and more major specific so take the easy gen eds. Go to class; maybe it's optional and maybe it's boring, but go and sit and learn. You are paying a lot of money to be educated, so allow yourself that opportunity. Go to the Rec center and workout; it's free and the freshman 15 are real.
Talk to your roommate and get to know them more than just where they're from and what their major is. Be there for everyone you can be. Clean up your hall mate's puke, and don't let the RA find you drinking in your room. Seriously, just turn the music down. Let your friends cry to you when they miss home. Go to the wellness center when you're feeling stressed and need to talk. Let yourself be you for the first time in 18 years.
Your parents are going to miss you more than you know; call them. Let them know you're happy. It will make it so much easier for them. You're going to miss home and your high school friends; don't leave every weekend. Stay with your friends and make memories at school. Be real with the people around you. No one is "popular" in college because nobody cares. You will surround yourself with the right people if you just stay true to you. Enjoy college, please. It goes by way too fast to hate it. Get reckless your freshman year because you can, and enjoy every moment.
