I'll be the first to admit that college is not what I thought it would be. I started my first semester at Culver Stockton this year and it was one of the best times of my life. It was a struggle at times and I had to find out who I really was before I could really enjoy it. But I wouldn't change it for the world and I wouldn't change anything about it. I learned so much and this is just a cool list of the few things I learned in my first year.

1. You'll meet awesome friends

When I started at Culver I didn't have any friends there. All of my friends went to bigger colleges or went out of state so it was a fresh start for me. I was really nervous at first to talk to anybody because I had never been in environment where I didn't have somebody to fall back on when I was awkward or wasn't there with somebody I knew. For once in my life I was alone. But, this forced me to get out of my shell more and I went out and meet people instead of just meeting them in class. While I meet my best friend in college in Bio class, I meet a bunch of awesome people outside of class. I meet people in Radio and TV productions, in the library, at the schools coffee shop(I don't even drink coffee!!!), on the football team and at Fraternity parties. For once I wasn't required to see my friends everyday and that made it even more special.

2. Your High School friends are still just as awesome

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When I left high school I thought I would never be able to hang out with my friends again. While we don't see each other as often and don't hang out like we used to doesn't mean we aren't still close. When I got back for thanksgiving break I went to a party with all of my bros from H.S and it was just as awesome as before college. Nobody changed at all, they were older and wiser but they were still just as eccentric as me. When I got back for the summer the first thing I did was went bowling with one of my best friends before he went back to China and it was the most fun I've had in a long time. It's kind of refreshing to hang out with people who saw you before you grew into what you are today.

3. Your roommate will become like a brother/sister for you

When i started at Culver was what if my roommate doesn't like me. It turns out that I didn't have to worry about that because he was one of the coolest people I ever meet. He was my first friend on campus and is one of my best friends. A lot of my friends I meet were through him and he was the first person I went to when I needed advice or somebody to vent to. When we first moved in all we only had a small TV and an Xbox. Playing on that Xbox was one of my best memories at college and watching are room evolve with are friends was fun to watch and I honestly got really lucky with who they picked for me.(If you are reading this Noah thanks for putting up with the weirdness :))

4. Class is optional, but that doesn't mean you should skip it

The first thing that excites a lot of incoming freshmen is that you don't have to go to class everyday. I'll admit there may have been 1 or 2 classes I skipped(OK more like 12 I'm human...), but I was pretty consistent about not missing the same class to many times. I missed one class once and it dropped my grade from an A to a B because she gave participation points in the class for that day(they watched a movie). If it can be help never skip class.

5. Frat parties are way overrated

When I started at Culver my first priority was to get into a frat and enjoy the parties. I went to a lot of frat parties my first few months at Culver and while they were fun and something to do in your spare time(which you have a lot of in a small town college), their are so many better and more fun things to do at college. I meet my best friend the second semester of college and that is when I started to stop hanging out at frats as much. What replaced it? We would go out and drive just to hang out, head to the park, went to the bar and sang Karaoke on Wednesdays, drove to the city over and do random things, have a late night run to steak and shake and sometimes we would just sit down and watch TV in her dorms lobby. While fraternities are an awesome opportunity to make friends and to make connections for your future, don't join for the parties. Join for the people and the opportunities it can make for your future.

6. It is a lot more work than high school

They are not kidding when they say it is a lot of work. Their were times where I literally just put my head down and wondered is it worth this much work to work for a TV station. The way to push through this is simple. Take a five minute break when you are working on anything school related. Talk to your roommate, text your best friend, play Xbox or just go outside to just and get some fresh air. Do anything to get your mind off of the work just for a little bit and then go back to giving it 150%.

7. You find out who you are more than ever

College is really the final test before you are thrown head first right into life. Now you might go for 4 years or 10 years depending on what your major is but it is still the time in your life when you still have a choice. Remember when your 1st grade teacher used to say you can be who ever you want to be? That is exactly what college is. You are going to probably change your major 20 times before you decide what you want to be. But, that doesn't mean it is going to be easy. This will probably be the roughest time of your life. You find out who your real friends are, what you believe in, and decide what type of person you want yourself to be remembered as. You are going to mess up and fall flat on your face. You'll face break ups with your girlfriend, failing a test or an entire class, you'll black out at the TKE party, you'll probably do things that you are not proud of because and you know what? That is okay because you are human and this is the time to do it. Enjoy it because you only got a short amount of time before you have to become a real adult.