So, here I am. Writing to you from two and a half hours away from Canton! It is weird to think that at this time last year, I was starting off my last year of high school, and now, I'm starting off my freshman year in college. I do not know where the time went.

If you are reading this and you are still in high school, take my advice: Enjoy it while you can. High school was great and even though I kept saying, “I cannot wait to get out of high school," it was still an awesome time. However, I do have to say, college is AMAZING!

I am loving every second of it so far. I have only been here a week, and I'm sure within the next couple of months, I am going to want to go home, but right now, I'm thoroughly enjoying my time here at Colby-Sawyer College. This past week has been crazy! One piece of advice I would give students who are going off to college soon, is to get your much needed sleep the week before going away to school. Once you are here, your sleeping habits just go right down the tube!

The first week of college has already been mentally and physically exhausting. This time last week was move in day for me, which consisted of a lot of lugging, packing, rearranging and setting up my dorm. As if that wasn't tiring enough, I also had orientation all day on Friday. I was so excited to meet new people and do fun activities, that it did not even hit me how tired I was until just recently. Orientation was a lot of fun and the group of leaders that ran the weekend were so pumped up and had so much energy, that it made me feel right at home and comfortable at Colby-Sawyer.

From the day I arrived on campus until Sunday night, my days were jammed packed with things to do, such as ice breaker games, where you would play games to get to know your classmates, a meeting with my advisor and a special class of 2015 welcoming ceremony. When this past Monday finally rolled around, I was happy when I could get out of bed a little later and then go grab lunch with my newly made friends.  Now, classes have begun and I am getting into the full swing of college life.

I have not been buried with homework yet because I think professors are trying to take it slow for us freshman so we can get settled in before we get overwhelmed with the work load. I will take that for as long as they will give us that break. And, I think I will use this opportunity to make sure that my room is set up the way I like it, get some much needed rest, get to know my teachers and their expectations, and to organize myself before the homework starts to pour in.

After all, my parents are constantly reminding me that I am here for the education.