Dear Freshman

Dear Freshman,

Your first year at college is going to be fine... actually great! As long as you are willing to take risks and set boundaries, freshmen year will be a good lasting memory. I wish I could tell you all about the fun times I had my fall and spring semesters, but that would take days to go through and I would still forget to mention a couple details–which also reminds me–keep a daily (or weekly) journal log to reflect on the smaller moments you may forget a year from now. They will save for laughs later on and sweet stories to tell. 

The academics will mostly be filled with GenEds (general education classes otherwise known as "classes you have to take but might not want to") which are sometimes fun to explore different classroom settings and meet others from different majors. Do heed the warning about not taking 8 am classes. Trust me, it's no joke when you're taking a math class that early, even though it was less of a struggle in high school. Our bodies grow and change over time, and growing to dislike 'time' more. It feels like there are 36 hours in a day when there's not much to do* and when there's a deadline for a paper... let's just say time isn't your friend. 

*There is always something you could be doing: Even if nothing is due tomorrow, that doesn't mean your assignment from two weeks ago due in two weeks needs to be crammed through the night before, adding onto the addition weight of college stress, leading you to then proceed to buy your regular iced-chai latte and tell yourself it'll all be ok. When it probably will...hopefully.

But in all seriousness, have fun, make friends, and have a balanced course load! And don't get addicted to chai lattes ;)

–Jem