This a personal note to all those graduating this year from high school. Congrats! I hope your graduation is all that you wanted. I know that I loved mine and still remember the after party. I mean…. my diploma.

You’ve worked hard. Trust me I know, you’ve signed all the forms, found the perfect outfit for prom and grad. You know where you are going and what you are doing with your life. You are on top of the world. This is a great mile stone in your life. Enjoy it. Truly take every bit of it in. And cut your mom some slack. Ya she’s crying a lot, but her baby is going to college!

Speaking of moms. Do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT allow them to over pack your bags. There is not that much room in a dorm room and mothers seem to forget that. Bring what you will need, a tooth brush,some clothes… not all of them, things for classes, your favorite posters. Keep it down. Trust me, I learned the hard way. I spent plenty of days trying to find space to put stuff and throwing the rest out. DAYS. In college, you don’t have days to be cleaning your room. Hug your mom and dad and inform them that they mean well.

So whats the best thing to do? Bring hardly anything. Now, I might sound crazy, but heres the plan. Have your parents put aside money for what you will need in college. The first month, make a list, have them order and send it to you. Yes this may seem like more of a hassle, but hello, Target anyone? The people in the mailroom are wonderful. They will help you get any large packages to your room. Now this way you don’t have a ton of stuff that you don’t need hogging up your room and you are getting packages sent with love from mom and dad. You will love packages from home around the third month.

Make a list of all your favorite things that you do with your mom and dad. Love mom’s cookies? Ask her if she’s willing to overnight a batch once a month. Watch the game with dad? Make a plan that when your fav team is on, you’ll watch it together, via web cam or on the phone. You will want a little bit of home when you get to college.

I remember my first night in my dorm room. I just plopped myself down on my bed and took it all in. This was my new life. MY new life. It’s a feeling I will never forget. A whole new stage of life that I was excited to begin. I thought I knew what I was getting myself into, boy was I wrong. I learned so much the first few days. And don’t mind the upperclassmen. They arne’t mean, they just know the drill. Give them a couple of days to warm up to you. Like in high school, freshmen can be spotted a mile away.

Who you were in high school means nothing in college, you will grow up a lot and college will change you. Expect to learn a lot about yourself.

Again, congrats all high school grads of 2008! You did it! You made it, you are going to college! If you are like Kori, and have a ton of questions about Lynn, or college in general, feel free to email me at manderson5@email.lynn.edu. Its my personal school email account which I check every day. Feel free to ask me anything about college! Honestly! I’ll answer them as freely as you ask me. If I can’t answer it, I’ll direct you to some one who can. Ask me about classes, friends, parties, clubs, sports, how to get stuff done, where to pick up your mail, the food plans, anything! I have the whole summer to answer all incoming freshmen questions, and hey, if its really good, I’ll blog about it!

Alright class of 2008, you are now the class of 2012 at Lynn, welcome!

(P.S. This is my 200th post! Sweet!)

I think I figured it out. College, the whole thing. College is easy, go to class, do homework, keep room clean. Its EVERYTHING ELSE that is hard.

I’ve had to deal with so much I never expected this year its amazing. The paperwork never seems to end. Something always is broken, needs to be replaced, restocked, who knows what, which all cost money. There just seems to be new challenges every day that I never thought of before.

My mother informs me that it all gets easier… but I’m not so sure how much I can trust her. This is still the same woman who told me about Santa and the Easter Bunny.

Freshmen 101: You have a lot to learn.

Freshmen 101 tip: Its ok to make mistakes.

Its now close to the end of this school year, I can now look back and see a lot of things. I can see that when I first got to Lynn, I was sure that everything was going to be perfect. That everything was going to be great. I guess I was hoping that being an adult was going to be easy. Boy was I wrong.

Its ok to make mistakes! Doesn’t it seem like your parents make everything look so easy? Well lets not forget that they had a head start. They made the mistakes already, or at least we would hope, they have had time to perfect the art of being an adult. Well, at least we hope they are a lot better at it then the average college student!

I remember in high school how I was scared to make a mistake and of course, being the typical teenager, my first thought would be, “My mother is going to kill me!” Since day one, I’ve made who knows how many mistakes. From losing information, forgetting to drop off my laundry, over sleeping, not doing a homework assignment (or two), let my account get into the negative, fought with my friends when I shouldn’t, got a speeding ticket, locked myself out of my room (twice), pissed off my floor with my alarm clock, left food out and got ants one day, didn’t back up my files and so when my laptop crashed I had nothing, starting to get the picture? 

I don’t know what I would do without my mom. I used to be close to my mom when I was at home, but I think I got a whole lot closer to my mother on a new level once I got to college.  Now I call her when I’m stressed out, when I’m having a good day or a bad day, when I just need to talk, when I’m homesick, and when I mess up royally. I’m also getting to see a new side of my mom. She’s more supportive than I ever thought she would be. lol. Sounds mean, but when I was at home, I was always scared to get into trouble, but now I know that my mother will be upset, but she’ll still support me and help me through whatever it is I have gotten myself this time. She has really surprised me since I’ve gotten to college. A lot of stuff I was sure I was never going to get passed the yelling, and yet, she never raised her voice once but informed me that I was just learning a life lesson and that this too would pass. The first time she didn’t yell at me or give me a lecture I nearly fainted.

And thank goodness for friends! Between me and my three friends, we make a lot of mistakes but we’ve got each others backs. College can be scary if you are all alone. We learn from each other which is great and we support each other. Between Cristina working herself to death, Rob not being able to focus some nights and just needing someone else to type for him, and Eric to have somone on him about cleaning his room and doing his homework, we are always there for each other.

Its ok to make mistakes. As long as you are learning from them. Being an adult is not as easy as it seems. I’m starting to think that college is four years of trying to figure out yourself, your future, how the world works and where you fit into it. Don’t be so hard on yourself when you first get to college, make mistakes, learn from them, and move on.

I was running around town and happened to drop by the school for a minute when I look to my left while driving to notice Eric driving right next to me. I was like, where in the world did you come from? He was just going for a drive and I was trying to cash a check from my grandfather for my birthday.

We ended up going all over the stupid city, neither one of us had much gas in our cars, I ended up having to open a bank account because my bank is only found in DC I guess. Afterwards, we dropped off my car since I hate driving and Eric loves to drive, and then headed out to find food.

We got stuck in traffic for two and a half hours! It was horrible! Eric was texting his girlfriend CJ since we weren’t moving and I was texting pretty much everyone in my phone book. lol. We could not get out of the traffic, it was horrible. We tried all kinds of back ways but we kept finding backed up streets. Eric went into New York mode and started driving in a way that would make Rob and Cristina fear for their lives. I on the other hand was like, you drive like a Kuwaiti. (It takes a lot to shock me in a car. Drive fast, drive like a crazy person, I’ve seen it all.)

Oh! And some old woman hit my car today! I was so upset! I nearly had a heart attack! I was like, my car! MY BABY!!!! It was about to get really ugly. Lucky for the both of us, neither of us had a scratch on our cars. Great, since she was a NUT CASE!!!! Who the heck pulls out of a parking spot without looking???? I was so upset, that was probably why I was so thankful that Eric was driving later in the afternoon. It seems all of Boca went crazy on the road today! Just… AAAHHHH! Look where you are going! My mom is happy that I am fine and I’m happy that I don’t have a scratch on my car.

Freshmen 101 tip: For the International Students!!!! Since I grew up over seas, I have an account with the State Department bank, which well, is not found everywhere in the states and leaves me tons of problems. My advice, talk to your parents about how they will send you money, who you will pay for stuff at school or checks that need to be from American banks in American Dollars. I learned a lot about banks today, they are annoying and confusing!

Also, another tip, old people are crazy on the road. Stay away from them or pass them. They can hit you and its no big deal for them. They have money and better insurance. Its a fact, get over it. That… and there crazy.

Freshmen 101 tip: Bring Flip-flops with you. Not just one pair because if you lose that one pair, I would not want to be you trying to take a shower! Just think about it, a bunch of guys or girls sharing 5 showers…. just saying. Protect your feet and your health. Hey, I’m a bio major, you don’t want to know what you could catch! Lord knows I wish I didn’t know… lol.

So what to bring, flip-flops for the shower and walking around in the halls, plus, we live in Florida! Come on! The BEACH!!!!

One of my friends lost a family member this week and so a lot of us have been doing everything we can to keep them busy. Its hard when a friend is hurting and it makes it worse when I’m always busy when I want to be there for them.

The good thing about college is that there are a lot of people around you to support you. Good times or bad, there are people that care and are willing to listen. Only, sometimes a person doesn’t need all that much help and it can be kind of hard when it seems like you are drowning in help. Grief is a sensitive subject and there are as many diffrent ways of dealing with grief as there are books in a library.

It can be draining taking care of some one else, rewarding, but draining. I have so much going on this week, but I have as much as possible to if this person into my life. I want to do more but I don’t want to invade.

*yawns* ok… now I am just going on and on. I need to go to bed. At a decent hour, yes that would be good.

Freshmen 101 tip: College is tough on its own, toss in what life throws at you and it can be very stressful. Just remember, there is your family, friends at school, friends at home, and tons of professors and Lynn staff you can talk to about what is going on. You are never alone… at least, not at Lynn! This is why it is important to surround yourself with good people once you get to college. The first few weeks are rough, make good friends. Lord knows I wouldn’t have made it this far without them!

I love finding out that I have mail. Although, today I found out that I have three packages that all arrived today, but I showed up to late to pick them up. I am going to be so busy all tomorrow so I don’t know when I am going to have the time to pick them up! Oh well, I wonder who they are all from! Very exciting.

I would be even more excited if my paycheck would magically show up right now…. just saying.

Freshmen 101 tip: Not really a tip, but a wake up call. College students are always broke. Not high school broke, but oh my gosh there is a quarter on the ground broke. Sometimes we have money, and then we celebrate and dance around our rooms, call everyone we know and go to the movies or go and get “real people food.”

A lot of questions lately, huh?

Today, everyone has been acting silly. Maybe its something in the food? Gene and Nicole were acting crazy in the line at dinner, and Samara was as random as ever. Eddie came out of know where! It was nice of him to join us for dinner. I am so lazy and tired today. Oh well, can’t be lazy all night long, I have work to do!

I’m so proud of myself, I got some paper work in today which I am hoping goes through and I get the funding for an event that I would like to host at the end of the month for BSU.

*looks at clock* An hour left until Tri Sigma study hall! I think I will work on English tonight.

Freshmen 101 tip: When everyone is acting crazy around school, eat out. lol. Just joking….

All the stuff I wish people I had told me, I am giving to the world about the first year of college.

Freshmen 101 Tip: Don’t bring to much. Seriously, think about your closet at home, now picture that as your room. If you want a place to sleep, don’t bring to much stuff with you. I would say important stuff:

- If you are a reader, a max of 5 books straight away. You might want to send some back home or just go to the library to check out books. That way, they aren’t junking up your room.

- 15 shirts regular shirts, 5 nice tops, 3 pairs of jeans, 2 nice pairs of pants, and for girls, three skirts. Guys normally don’t have to many shoes, but girls, leave a good 2/3 of them at home.

-traveling money, to and from the airport.

- guys nights and girls nights a very important. Once a week, plan a night out that will just be with one gender. People in relationships around here find that it keeps them together.

-gift cards will save you.

- call home every once in a while, it makes them more willing to give you a larger amount of money.

-there will be a lot of noise in your dorm hall. Get used to it.

- Books cost serious cash. Your first semester, I would suggest putting aside some money ahead of time. If they aren’t that much, well hey, you have got extra cash in case something comes up!

- Go to class!

- You will probably get caught if you are under age and drinking in your room. Oh, and its not pretty when you do. Do not expect your roomate to cover for one of your friends who leaves something that shouldn’t be in there in your room. Just because you guys live together, doesn’t mean that they are willing to destroy their record for you or your friends.

-It is a small school.

-Join everything. Try something new.

-Talk to your professors. Its a relationship. If you want to pass, you have to comunicate with your professor.

How to spot true friends in college:

They help you with your homework when you are suffering in a class.

They allow you to make your own choices in relationships, even though they don’t agree, and support you 100%.

You can knock on their door at any hour of the day or night.

They will get up at 3 am to pick you up from who knows where.

Some one hurts you and they only want to get revenge… or just key that persons car for stealing your parking spot!

They don’t lecture you over the petty stuff unless they are trying to show they care. AKA, no comment on the 4 foot pile of dirty clothes. They understand, since they are secretly doing the same thing as you, we are all busy right now.

They put up with your music in the car, even though every note kills them inside.

They drag you out of your room to eat dinner so you don’t lose your mind from studying for hours on end.

They know all your faults and still love you, and make sure you don’t spend all your money on a new purse.

You can be fighting like crazy people for days, but soon as one is sick, put a hold on the fight, wait until the other is better, and go back to fighting like crazy people.

I should be sleeping… err. I better go to bed!

*mumbles about stupid homework*