The biggest change was that I didn’t know anybody anymore. I thought that would be awesome. I would have a fresh start and make new friends. Unless you get involved, though, it’s really hard to meet new people -- and that’s something you really want to do if you’re somewhere new by yourself. Also, you should make one friend in all your classes so that you always have a study buddy. In college you’re going to need one.

The second thing is that you really don’t know your way around town. Back home it’s a snap to navigate so you usually don’t even think about it. Now you’re in a new area where everything feels foreign and unnatural. The best thing is to try to find a map or make a local friend and see if he or she will give you a tour of the city your school is located in. This way you’ll find out the best grocery stores, malls, food, etc. pretty quickly. It can make things so much easier and then things will feel a little bit more like home.

Back home I was used to being surrounded by mountains, but here there are only mountains to the west. It finally hit me that the reason for this is that I’m now living on a mountain and it snows. The snow was a huge shocker for me and the weather change was unbelievable because it felt like winter to me in October where everyone I knew laughed at me because it wasn’t even that cold. When looking into colleges you need to make sure you are prepared for the weather and climate change. For the first couple weeks of school I had a lot of trouble breathing because of this. That’s not something you can really prepare for and so you just need to get used to over time. Pretty soon it will seem like nothing.

Some of the biggest challenges I face right now are financial. Being an out-of-state student is really expensive and loans are not the greatest things on earth. As early as your freshman year you should make a FastWeb account (www.fastweb.com) and look for scholarships right away.

If you get enough, your college tuition could be absolutely free, or at least much cheaper, which will make you and your parents much happier in the long run.

The last thing you have to realize is that no one will be asking you if you’re studying or just what you’re doing. You need to keep track of that stuff yourself. Try to keep a daily planner to organize your time. Do you need to write the rough draft for your paper due next week? Do you have a test to study for that’s three days away? This may not seem like a big deal now, but once everything starts piling up it is essential to be organized so that you don’t get behind.

Other than that, college is a great experience to broaden your mind. You get to make your own schedule and you have more of a selection on what classes you want to take to fill your credits. It’s a really great opportunity and I would encourage everyone to give college a go; just make sure you are prepared for the change that lies ahead.