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What do I wish I had known ahead of time? Well, I wish I had known that...

• ...making new friends is a lot easier than I thought it would be.
• ...buying used books rather than new ones saves you a lot of money.
• ...filling out paperwork is a way of life in college--and I definitely should have memorized my social security # before I got here.
• ...learning to live with a roommate who has completely different sleep and study habits can be a real challenge.
• ...you don't have to try to fit in at college--It's a lot different from high school in that respect---and you don't have to worry about what people think about you. The fact is, they are way too busy with their own lives to spend what little free time they have thinking about you!
• ...bring a bunch of clear plastic storage containers of different sizes and shapes with you for your dorm room can be a big help in keeping your "stuff" organized and out of the way.
• ...Glory Daze was NOT a documentary.
• ...I should have stocked up on personal articles and toiletries before I got here--- it's a lot cheaper to buy shampoo and deodorant at WalMart or Costco than to get them at the campus store.
• ...it's a good idea to stick with your friends at parties--setting up a buddy system ahead of time can keep you from doing something you might later regret.
• ...the people who are worth knowing accept you are, rather than for your looks or how much money you have.
• ...to do well, you need to study 100 times harder than in high school.
• ...you also have to be a lot more disciplined about taking good notes and organizing your work.
• ...dirty dishes and dirty laundry accumulate quickly, and both can be the source of some amazing smells!
• ...you have to learn to deal with having other people around you 24 hours a day--and sometimes you have no privacy.

And I wish I had known that...

• ...so many times my emotions and my mind would pull me in completely different directions.
• ...when I got sick, I would have to take care of my self.
• ...I would need to be able to to balance a checkbook and do my own laundry.
• ...just because I didn't have a curfew didn't mean I had to stay out late every night.
• ...there would be so much competition for everything--even the showers!
• ...when I felt ill, or totally wiped out, or completely stressed out, I should have paid more attention to what my body was telling me.
• ...if I didn't like myself when I woke up in the morning, no one else would either.
• ...sending e-mail and playing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater weren't the only things I needed to know about using my computer.
• ...I would change my mind so many times about my major and career path.
• ...it would be so easy to be distracted--one of my hardest lessons was learning to manage my time and plan ahead.
• ...when I had problems with my roommate, I should have talked to my roommate about them and not complain to everyone else.
• ...I could put things off 'till the last minute if I wanted to, but when I did, I often didn't like the consequences.
• ...when I pulled an all-nighters, I would get so exhausted that I did worse than when I studied hard but went to bed at a decent hour.
• ...sometimes I'd be so broke that finding $3.16 in pocket change would be cause for a major celebration--that's enough money to rent a video or buy two chicken fajitas and a Coke!
• ...I shouldn't judge people on first impressions, or even second; people come from many backgrounds and cultures, some of them very different from mine.
• ...even though I wasn't 'somebody' in high school, I could still be somebody in college.
• ...I would have the best times of my life--and the worst--within the space of a few days.

Most of all, I wish I had known that...

• ...where I came from and where I want to go are both important to remember.
• ...there's a lot more to being an adult than turning 18.
• ...no one is responsible for me now but me.

-----taken from Private Colleges &ampp; Universities 2003 edition-----