Dear freshmen, Your parents, their friends, and your teachers have been offering all kinds of advice and you probably don't want to hear it anymore. I don't blame you since you've always been someone who wanted to figure things out on your own. Maybe you could just indulge me a bit, though. I've been seeing fresh-faced freshmen arrive on campus for as many years as you've been alive. So, here goes. Be professional. Look at school as a pre-professional experience designed to give you the skills to navigate the world beyond college. Learn how to make yourself clear, and be sure to take yourself seriously. Be honest with yourself about whether you are putting your best into the things you do. Don't make excuses. Go to class and take good notes. This shouldn't be hard. If you choose not to do any homework on a given day, you are basically giving yourself the schedule you had in preschool. Don't expect your professors to warn you. One of the biggest challenges of freshman year is that students have so much unstructured time. Use it well. By the way, don't just copy down what the professor is saying, especially if they post their presentations. Write down what you understand about the topic being discussed. Appreciate the people you live with. It's easy to expect things to be the same as they were when you were living at home, but living with strangers means that some of your habits are just as unfamiliar to others as their habits are to you. Share, be generous, and look for common ground. Solve your own problems. When your parents say they will take care of your problem, tell them you are in college now and you need to figure it out yourself. If you are going to grow into a new person beyond the daily influence of your family and your high school, you have got to let go of old ideas. This is challenging. It's OK to be confused, unsettled and nostalgic for high school. Good luck this year!