Things You Need to Know About College

College is a weird time in life. Everything is changing and you have so much freedom that you've never had before. So here are some of my tips on how to make the most of your college experience.

1) Roll with the punches. College throws a lot at you at once, and most of it is stuff you have never had to deal with before (like your roommate never showing up, or having to power walk your butt off to a class that's 15 minutes away when you only have a 10 minute passing period). You just have to relax and not stress out about things like this, there will be plenty of other times to stress out in college. Chances are almost everyone there is dealing with problems of their own and problems just like yours. Just roll with the punches and take on these challenges when you come to them, you will find out that you can handle a lot more than you thought.

2) JOIN CLUBS. Everyone tells you this over and over and over so I know it gets old, but it is the truth. Take it from someone who kind of ignored this advice, joining clubs or groups or sports on campus is SO WORTH IT. You meet so many people and have a lot of fun with the groups you are involved it. Now don't overstretch yourself and join 15 clubs your first week, but test a few out and find ones that are really fun/beneficial/interesting for you and go for it. Be outgoing and go to a few meeting without a wingman, meet new people and make new friends. It's worth it, I promise.

3) Visit home. Sometimes it's hard to find a time to go home because you're having fun at school and you don't want to miss out on any awesome parties on the weekends, but it is important to find that time and go visit good old mom and dad. Your parents and siblings are going to miss you (and you will probably miss them) so it's important to go home every once in a while. On the other side of the spectrum, don't go home every weekend and miss out on some fun opportunities at school!

4) Drinking is not mandatory. Drinking is a big part of college life for a lot of people and that may be something you enjoy doing and I'm not going to tell you not to do it (as long as you're safe), but there are also plenty of people who don't want to participate in that or those that just like to go out every once in a while. People may try to pressure you into it or make you feel lame for not partaking in the "festivities", but it's your life, tell 'em to shove it. There will always be people that will be willing to have a movie night with you or a late night at the library, just like there will always be someone for you to go let loose with on the weekends. So whether or not you enjoy taking shots of Burnett's or would rather take shots whipped cream straight out of the canister, just remember that it is YOUR CHOICE and don't let people pressure you into doing things you do not want to do.

5) Try to stay organized. College is a hard time for disorganized people like me. Your professors may not remind you 16 times that you have a paper due at midnight on Tuesday that's worth 40% of your grade (they probably will but you never know) and you don't want to go to class the next day and want to throw yourself down a flight of stairs because you forgot to turn it in. You are completely responsible for keeping track of your assignments and while most of those assignments are small, they add up if you consistently forget about them. For the sake of your grades and your sanity stay as organized as possible, because nothing is more frustrating than rushing to finish an assignment and missing the online deadline by 1 minute.

Most importantly, college is a time for you to experience new things, discover who you really are, and learn a lot. College has been a really enlightening time for me so far, and although I've spent entire nights drinking red bull and coffee to cram for a test and felt like death the next day, had to deal with some inconsiderate and shitty people, and had no idea what I wanted to major in for the first 3 semester of my college career, I figured it out. And that is what it is all about.

I'll probably think of a lot more advice as time goes on, I'm still learning as well.