College is a big step. Not only are you specifying your studies, you are moving away from home. Granted you are only there for a couple months throughout the year, this is most likely the first time you’ll be on your own. You’re almost guaranteed to make a couple mistakes but there are always things to learn from said mistakes. Throughout my first year away at school, I learned lessons that I will take with me going into the rest of my college career and further.

The most important thing I learned is probably the same cliché all your high school teachers told you after every test they suspected weren’t studied for. You can’t simply glide through classes without studying and hope for the best. Although I’d love to believe that my natural intelligence is enough to get me through all my courses, I found that it required more than just an hour before the deadline to write a paper or twenty minutes to do my chemistry homework. Throughout high school, it was easy to skip studying for a day and still succeed or bang out a paper the night before it was due. I wish I had thought about the fact things would change so I could have formed good habits that would help me through my first year and forward.

Another thing I learned is how important it is to get involved in things on campus and to interact with people. People always say you meet your forever friends at college, so how do you expect to find them if you lock yourself in your dorm in between and after classes? My dorm building had a first-floor lounge with two pool tables and a TV. The best decision I made was to sit downstairs to work on homework the first couple of weeks. Throughout the year, I got to know some really great people within my building through a simple lounge and I met even more during classes and other activities like choir or a cappella. Pro tip: RA events aren’t lame, they are great ways to meet people and in many cases get free food because let’s face it we’re in college and we can afford some free food.

I’m sure everyone has heard this many times but college can be tough or it can be a great experience but it all depends on how you work through it. You'll learn some great lessons in your first semester and more over the full year. I learned two of the greatest lessons my freshman year of college. You should definitely get involved but do not let extracurricular activities consume your time. School work is first and foremost the most important thing.