Freshman year of college: An open letter.

College is great.
Learning is awesome and yeah, college is pricey but your first year away from home is going to help you find out who you truly are. You will learn more about yourself than you ever thought possible. You learn how to do grown up things and you deal with grown up consequences.
To everyone stuck in a town that they hate, or in a place that they don't quite fit- it gets better. You're gonna find your place and you're going to make some awesome friends who are actually friends. They'll come over at  1 in the morning and make you stop crying into your econ text book and make you some tea and help you get to sleep. You're going to grow into your skin and yeah, try a couple hair colors. Wear weird eyeshadow. It's college and you're young. Eat three bagels and don't you dare regret it. Go to the gym sometimes, you can find cuties there sometimes. Go eat breakfast in your pjs at the caf. Nobody care, I promise. Take a religions class, broaden your horizons. Don't argue with that crazy fundamentalist guy in the back too much though- even though you really want to. Take a creative writing class and learn how to structure your thoughts into something beautiful. Learn everything you can. There will be days when you don't want to get out of bed. It happens. Maybe you didn't sleep well, or you feel ill or just plain lazy. It's okay to take some time to yourself. Take care of yourself, you're living on your own now. Take a multivitamin/ mulitmineral (you can get supplements that combine both of these!)  and try to eat something healthy at least once a day. Drink water and get enough sleep. The library is a magical place if you're trying to study. By changing your scenery, you feel like you have to work. Also, most university libraries have a strict quiet only area if you need some peace and can't get it at home. If you're going to drink, do it somewhere safe and make sure you hydrate. Hangovers are a bitch. Use the buddy system and never ever ever throw a party in your dorm. That's how you get caught. Watch your drink and never take a drink from a frat boy in a snapback that you just met. He might be a nice guy, he might not. Your safety is too important to take stupid chances like that. Don't get black out drunk. Promise me? Stay with your buddy and please make informed choices.
Invest in bleach spray for your dorm because you can clean pretty much anything with bleach, sweetie. Lysol is a must. USE HAND SANITIZER PLEASEEE! When people get sick on campus, it goes around. You're gonna get it. It's gonna suck. But since you religiously bleach, lysol, and germ x your surroundings and take those nifty multivitamins/ multiminerals, it's not going to hit you as hard as your now plague victim roomie. Stay away from them and go get some fresh air.
Make sure you have a well stocked first aid so you always have meds on hand.When you catch whatevers going around, take some meds and sleep it off. Go to class, don't be a weak ass bitch. You can do this. Brittany Spears bounced back from 2007, you can go to communications with a sniffle.
Find a passion. If you like to paint, make sure you make art. Make time for doing what you love, because you need an outlet here more than ever before. If you write, write in a journal or on scrap paper or in a shitty blog on the internet. Keep everything, even if you think it sucks. That's how you get better.
You're probably going to have to give a presentation at some point. Please, please, please don't wear sweatpants. Everyones going to notice. Make notecards or something, don't read off your powerpoint unless you want to look like an unprepared moron.  Practice at least once, especially if you're nervous. Site your images too, don't be a content stealer. People take plagiarism seriously in college- even if it's accidental/unintentional. Also, that's a super shitty thing to do, bro.
Don't be afraid to talk to people or ask people how to do things. You're a freshman, you aren't supposed to know your way around yet. Relax. You'll be great.
Be kind to yourself. Failing a quiz does not mean you have failed the course. Your prof has office hours- USE THEM. I promise it will help. They'll be happy to see you and they'll know you- you won't be another nameless face floating in lecture hall. They'll probably give you the benefit of bumping your grade if you're stuck in between 2 letters. Use a tutor. Your university probably has an academic center and/or tutoring center where people are waiting to help you with your problems and want to help you learn and succeed. Asking for help doesn't make you a failure. Refusing to ask for help will only hurt you. I know it's hard to admit sometimes when you need help. It gets easier and you'll get through it. Suck it up, college is supposed to be hard. You're earning a degree, not buying one.  Anyways, I think I've rambled enough.
 Good luck, sweeties!