As a senior in high school, I thought I was perfectly prepared to leave for college in the fall. I thought that going to school would not change many of my relationships with my friends, or my family, or make me feel any different, really. I was completely wrong.

College is a major change. It is a completely incredible, life changing, exciting, insane experience. And, while I was in high school, I did not understand how on earth my older friends did not have time to text me back anymore. However, going to college has disconnected me from home in the sense that, though I love my friends and my family dearly, it is nearly impossible to be fully involved at home and be involved while at school. I know it is totally, completely hard to believe and understand prior to moving into college (because trust me, I did not believe it either), but when you are in college, you have to be in college. You are on the go 24/7, nonstop, all the time. Whether you are going to the library to study all night, in class, or finding time to eat in all of the chaos of going to meetings, working on projects, and trying to find time to sleep, sometimes reading the texts you receive is the only brainpower you have left in you. I cannot express the number of times my friends have had to text me multiple times just so I would remember to respond to one text, unless I pushed the limit so much that they simply called me instead. All of this goes to say that, cut your college friends a little bit of slack in the communication department (or, lack of, I guess). We really are not going out of our way to ignore you, we just kind of suck at responding.

I also thought school work was not going to change much. I was so totally incorrect. My week consists of sitting in the library studying, doing my assignments, working on papers, and revolving around school, and my weekend usually completely reflects that, as well. If I am hanging out with friends when I am not in class, it is definitely likely that we are working on homework in the company of one another in order to not lose our minds. It helps, for sure, but college is quadruple the work you have in high school, so you need to be open to working for the grades.

Finally, making friends in college is not as hard as you may think. Yeah, it can definitely be challenging, but making friends in college can occur in the simplest,

weirdest ways. Whether you go Greek, branch out into some extracurricular activities, or simply meet someone in lecture, you are going to make friends without even noticing. I went into college thinking I would have no one but the people in my hall and my sisters in Chi Omega, but I have made friends across campus in so many different ways, from simply sharing lab to complimenting someone’s hair.

College is full of life and wonder, so strip yourself of expectation and go live it.