Every college freshman looks forward to having the real college experience. Coming into school we all know the fears of difficult classes, late nights, and temptations. The number one exciting thing about college is the chance to reinvent yourself, find yourself, and start new. Now, as a junior in college, I have learned that the most important thing about freshman year of college is to not throw yourself away while trying to find yourself in the process.

Yes, there are four years of school (maybe five or six for some), but freshman year is where it counts for a lot of us. It’s the year we live in a dorm, eat in a dining hall, learn how to do college, and we are not right under the wing of mom and dad anymore. While going through all of these new and exciting things don’t forget that you are at school for a reason and a purpose. I remember all the new things, the parties, the friends, and that I no longer had to ask anyone before leaving to go somewhere. For a while, I didn’t realize how all of these fun things would affect my grades, and turn into affecting my future.

When I say don't throw yourself away while trying to find yourself, I mean not to forget about your goals. If you want to become a doctor, study hard. If you want to be a vet, go volunteer with animals, if you want to become an accountant learn how to get through those accounting classes, and so much more. It is important not to over care about your social life and to under care about your school work. Adjusting to this way of going about freedom can be difficult, but it’ll pay off in the end when you have that diploma in your hand.

There was a time when I would go out every weekend, once, twice and, on rare occasions, even five times. I slowly watched myself struggle to do better than a C on my chemistry exams, and in my easier classes, keep an A. I know for many, it is a lot worse than what I did, but even those results effected what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. It took me a while to find a passion for something and work towards it. It took time to learn how to study and to get over the fear of missing out. But most importantly all of those ups and downs, failures and accomplishments, helped me find out who I am.