It's hard to believe that my freshman year at BYU is almost over.  I've learned so much here, not just academically, but socially and most of all spiritually.  It's been the hardest thing I've ever done, and I definitely had moments where I just wanted to give up, but I wouldn't trade this year for anything.  I have met so many people and had so many experiences that have changed my life one way or another, and I don't want to go back to being the girl I was when I got here.

That said, there is some practical advice I have for those of you who are getting ready for college.  This list might seem sporadic, but this is what I have gleaned from the last six months.  And I'm even going to include a pack list of the things I brought and didn't but wish I had, as well as things that I left at home.

Also, thank you to Heather for inspiring me to write this.  You'll do so well at BYU-I!!!

• It's ok to ask for help.  Ask for help whenever you need it, because people are generally kind and willing to help.  So on the first day of classes when you don't know why you can't find your classroom (because you are in the wrong building), ask someone to point you in the right direction.  When you don't understand what's going on in class, email your teacher or TA.  They want you to do well.  And when you just want to break down and cry, call your mom and dad, because they desperately want to hear from you and let you know everything is going to be fine.
• Study in the library.  Or an empty classroom, or a random quiet place on campus.  Because trust me, once you get home all you will want to do is veg out and watch movies and hang out with your roommates, and then realize three weeks before finals that you are practically failing since you did zero homework.
• Make friends in your class so that you can study with someone during finals week and then commiserate with when things don't go so well.
• Put the study guides on a Google doc and email the link to everyone in the class. They'll thank you, you'll make a ton of friends, and then you don't have to look for all of the answers by yourself.
• Make friends with the TA.  They are hired to help, so make them earn their money.  They'll appreciate you for it because otherwise they sit in their office hours with nothing to do for hours on end.
• Go to the review sessions.  They have them for a reason.  And they'll save your butt because you slept through half the class.  
• GO TO CLASS.  Don't miss unless you have to.  Even just sitting in the classroom listening will give you more information then staying in bed.  You might hear something you remember on a test later, or there could be a pop quiz. One extra point is better than none.
• Participate in your classes.  It's ok to be the kid who sits in front and asks questions all the time, because it means you are engaging in the lecture and what is going on.  You'll learn more than the kid sitting in the back on her phone the whole time.
• Try something new.  I auditioned for two on-campus dance groups, and while I didn't make it into either one, I still had fun and met new people.  And I don't have to regret not trying.
• Print out pictures.  I had a wall full of pictures of my family and friends back home and of fun things that I did throughout the year.  Walgreens has a app where you can print any picture from off of your phone for fairly cheap.  It helps with homesickness and sadness.
• Call your mom once a week. And your dad.  I would send my parents texts every now and then first semester just to say I love you, but I didn't communicate with them nearly enough.  For as much fun as I was having being independent and free, I shouldn't have left them with not much more than my facebook posts to know what was going on in my life.  They miss you just as much as you miss them...maybe even more.
• Have a meeting with your roommates as soon as you all move in to negotiate things like dishes and garbage.  We didn't do a good job of that and we spent the rest of the school year debating about how the dishes were supposed to get done, who was supposed to clean the kitchen, etc. We were assigned cleaning jobs once a month by the housing department, so bathrooms and vacuuming weren't usually an issue.  It was more the little stuff.
• Once you figure out the home routine, stick to it.  No one likes a roommate who doesn't pick up his/her share of the work, especially once you have all agreed on an arrangement. 
• You don't have to be best friends with your roommates. You don't even have to like them.  But you should still be kind.  It would really suck to live with someone you knew hated you, wouldn't it?
• If you have an issue with something a roommate or another person did/said, SAY SOMETHING.  It is IMPOSSIBLE for another person, who is a total stranger to you, to know what is bothering you if you don't speak up.  And it is likely to happen again if you don't make the other person aware that you have a problem with what's going on....and then it will blow up in a fight that festered for 6 months. No fun.
• Buy a good water bottle, but write your name and phone number on it so that when you leave it in a classroom the custodial staff can get a hold of you to get it back. 
• Plan your menu for what you are going to cook for the week or two that you go buy groceries for.  Otherwise everything goes bad before you eat it and you don't know what to cook because none of the ingredients go together.
• Get a good planner, and figure out how you need to schedule things.  I know some people who have to schedule things in hour-by-hour blocks, and I just can't live like that.  My planner is more of a color-coordinated to-do list, and it's worked great for me.  But I'm SUPER picky about the layout of my planners. So figure out what you need and stick to it.
• Please, for the love of everything, get sleep during the week.  It may be worth it to pull a few all-nighters because everyone needs that experience in college, but 4AM every night will slowly kill you.  And then you'll miss class the next day.
• Don't take a class before 8 AM. Or 9 AM if you can help it.  You may have been able to do that all through high school, but trust me. Don't.