The Do's and Don't's of College Living Straight From a College Senior

College can be pretty intimidating and hard to navigate when you're a freshman. High school and college are nothing alike and high school doesn't even come close to preparing you for living life on your own with a heavier work load. Personally, there are a lot of things I wish someone would have told me before I started college. College is both a really fun and stressful experience. When it comes to college there are a lot of things you should do and shouldn't do, especially as a freshman. IF you're reading this and you've already been through college or decided not to go at all, I invite you to consider how your college experience could have been different or how you can apply these do's and don't's to your life as a young adult. Being in college is really just struggling through the weirdest part of your life while surrounded by other people going through the same thing, and any guidance is welcome.

DO: Learn to budget your time well

Something that stressed me out the most was trying to figure out how I was going to get all my homework done in time for class the next morning. In college, it's hard to get all the homework done, have a job, and still have a social life. The truth is, you're going to have to make sacrifices. If you're planning to have a job in college, make sure you're not working so much that you aren't getting your homework done. If they're scheduling you 30 hours a week and you're homework is going undone, cut back your hours. School is more important than a pay check, especially if you're paying upwards of $10,000 a year to go to school.

That being said, a paycheck is more important than a social life. I'm not saying you shouldn't be making friends in college, because friends are super important in college. I'm saying you should make friends in convenient places. I have made a lot of friends in college, but the ones I see the most are the ones I work with or have classes with. The ones I don't see often I have to make time for, which is hard when we all have homework, classes, and work. That doesn't mean their not good friends, it just means I don't see them as much.

My best friend in Iowa City is my roommate, Hannah. We met at work and became friends because we had a class together and started studying at Subway before our big tests. After that class, we had another class together, and we also were working together in the same restaurant. Now, she lives down the hall from me, but I only really see her if we're both at work at the same time. That's just how things happen in college sometimes. Since we both work together, we have similar schedules for the most part, so we stay up late together frequently. Our favorite thing to do is to walk to the gas station near our house and buy a lot of cheap gas station food. Then we walk home together and eat it all in front of the TV while we watch a stupid movie. I think we've watch "White Chicks" like four times together since moving in with each other.

Trying to choose between a social life and school work can be tough, but it doesn't have to be such a big decision. If your friends don't mind hanging out with you while you're working on school work, then have a study date in the library, or study in Subway. Sometimes it's less efficient, but it makes studying more fun. Some homework is meant to be done alone, but that doesn't mean all homework has to be.

Ultimately, you should just make sure you're making time for the things that are important to you. Life is too short to not make time for things that matter. Don't let school work or work get in the way of having friends or fun, and don't let your friends get in the way of your success. You can have it all, you just need to learn to budget your time.

DON'T: Get a fake ID

You'll have plenty of time to drink when you're 21 and you'll have opportunities to drink even without a fake ID. Lots of your friends in college will be going out to bars and getting drunk every weekend, but the bars are an overrated experience. It's honestly just a bunch of drunk guys who will either try to fight you or hit on you. That, or it's a bunch of drunk girls who can barely stand up.

I'm not saying that I've never drank before. I absolutely have, and I've had a lot of fun drinking. I do not have a fake ID though. Not having a fake ID has kept me out of the bars and more focused on things I actually want/need to be doing: like working, writing, or sleeping. It has also kept me in a group of friends who I know really care about me. If you have friends who will buy alcohol and drink at home with you, then you know you have good friends. These friends will also make sure you don't die if you drink to much.

Drinking at home will also (more than likely) keep you from getting a public intoxication ticket. As long as you're not getting any noise complaints, you won't have to worry about getting in trouble with the police.

Save yourself some money and some anxiety and just forget about the fake ID. Drink at home if you have to drink and save the bars for when you're 21.

DO: Take care of your mental health

I've always believed that your mental health will never be in a worse place than when you're in college. Your mind is under a lot of stress with classes and worrying about the future. Don't let your mental health keep you from having a good college experience. Take care of yourself before it starts effecting your grades and your college experience.

There are plenty of people you can reach out to while in college if you're feeling depressed. At the University of Iowa, they offer free counselling services to any student. You can go just once or every week if you need. They won't judge you and they're really helpful.

If therapy isn't really for you, find yourself some friends or anybody who will listen. I, personally, have a lot of really great friends who let me talk to them about my problems. Sometimes just talking about it makes everything feel better; makes the problems seem a lot smaller. If you don't have friends like that you can talk to, you can also talk to your parents or literally anyone. Don't be ashamed of your mental health. Do something about it. If you think no one cares about your problems or what you're going through, you're wrong. Everyone cares, they might just not know what you're going through. Reaching out to people will help you.

Every year there are lots of college students lost to suicide. Don't let yourself get to that point; find help.

DON'T: Waste your time with people who don't really care about you

Okay, this one is a big one and super personal to me. Rather than just telling you reasons you shouldn't do this one, I'm just going to tell you about what happened when I did this:

When I was a freshman, I had broken up with my high school boyfriend who had been a dick to me all throughout high school. I thought I would help myself by finding someone better. Spoiler alert: I didn't. I tried dating two different guys and it didn't work out. I hate to admit this, but they ruined my self-esteem... and I can't believe I let a BOY do that. Your dad is right when he says boys are only after one thing.

After the second boy told me the worst phrase in the universe: "we should just be friends". I started talking to this guy who was quite a bit older than me. He was really nice.... but not nice... if that makes sense. He used me for a really long time with little to no regard for my well-being. As awful as he was to me, I wasted two years of my life chasing after him. I tried to end things with him SO MANY times, but nothing ever stuck. All my friends hated him and I would cry every night because I knew deep down he didn't really care about me.

The longer we were together the better things got, but he still wasn't treating me like his girlfriend or anyone of real importance. I was more like his property than I was someone he loved. I didn't deserve that and I wasted so much of my time feeling insecure and unhappy. My advice: if someone is treating you like an object, don't waste your time with them. Tinder is not the place to meet the love of your life. Not everyone meets the love of their life in college and you shouldn't waste your time looking for it from someone who isn't willing to give it to you. Be patient when it comes to relationships, because their really not that important. Don't lose yourself for a person who doesn't truly want to be with you.

The University of Iowa

DO: Risk it all

This seems like bad advice, but you should absolutely take risks in college. The best way to get what you want is to put yourself out there and take risks. I'm not much of a risk taker, but I do try to challenge myself. In my Publications class last year I volunteered to be the Layout Editor of our literary magazine. I knew how to work InDesign and I was pretty confident I would do a good job, even though I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get the job. After a week of waiting, I finally got the email from my teacher saying I was going to be the Layout Editor for our magazine. I was pretty excited, but really worried I wasn't going to do a good job.

If you don't know what a Layout Editor is, it's the person who puts the whole magazine together. I picked the cover, the font, and decided in what order all the submissions would be in. I'm going to be honest, it was a lot more work than I anticipated it being, especially since I was taking 15 semester hours that semester. I spent a lot of late nights in the library putting together this magazine. I sent a lot of emails and texts to people in my class and listened to the same playlist on YouTube like 30 times. By the end of the semester, the magazine was perfect and I was so proud of the magazine I helped build.

Do things that scare you. If you're not sure you can do it, then do it anyway. The pay-off will be amazing and you'll be so proud of the things you've done. If none of those things seem like a good reason to put yourself out there, then consider the resume you have to build after you graduate. Jobs in your field are hard to come by, so make yourself competitive.

DON'T: Hate yourself when you get a bad grade

Fact: You're going to get bad grades in college. Your GPA will go down. It's important to remember that a bad grade doesn't mean you're not smart. It also doesn't mean you're going to fail. Failing classes is actually pretty common. You can retake classes, you can go an extra semester, and you can graduate when you're ready. A bad grade isn't the end of the world as long as you're trying. Just do your best and hope for the best. If you need help, ask for it. Go to office hours and talk to your teachers.

College is fairly easy to survive and everyone's experience is different. Take my advice and hopefully live some of your best years in college, or don't. The fun thing about college is getting to make mistakes. They hurt, but you learn from them. When you start your senior year, hopefully you'll have a handle on college and be ready for the real world. Once you tackle college, you're ready to tackle anything. I wish you good luck on all your endeavors and massive success.