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One of the dumbest things you can do in college is not show up to class. A portion of your grade is based on attendance, so no matter how early in the morning it is, or how hungover you are, you should still show up. If you’re a freshman living in the dorms, I know you’re going to end up drinking alcohol; my advice to you is just be smart about it. If you start drinking early in the evening, you’ll be able to pass out at a reasonable time and still manage to get up for a morning class. I learned this pretty quickly, having a history class at 8AM myself.

Most college courses are going to be lectures, with very little homework. My advice on that is to take a lot of notes. Not a good note-taker? Find someone that is, and keep in contact with them. You should try to arrange it so you can take G.E. courses with your friends. That’ll make attending class, studying, and getting missing notes a lot easier. Especially if you’ve been out and about town all night and sleep through your alarm. (Yeah, I did this several times. I blame my roomate; I think she turned my alarm off.)

Speaking of roommates, they can make or break your college experience. I lived in the dorms my first year of college, which is an experience you can’t get anywhere else. I loved the people I lived with on my floor. But I didn’t really get along with my roommate. I didn’t hate her, I didn’t like her. She was nice, but we never talked past the first weeks being there. Her boyfriend was around every week, sometimes spending the night, and sticking around when she was in class. That was probably the most irksome bit, because the rooms were tiny enough with two people; three was annoying and oppressive. My roommate and her boyfriend would fight a lot too, and once, when I was across the hall in my friend’s dorm, I could hear her screaming at him because he wouldn’t take out the trash. That was ridiculous, because she never took out the trash. I would wait, hoping she would eventually take it out, but instead the trash would simply pile up almost a foot above the can. For all her high maintenance tendencies, and keeping her side of the room clean and organized, I felt she was pretty gross. I went to visit home for a weekend, and when I came back there was mustard on my desk and my papers, and a pickle slice on my bookshelf. Another time I went home and came back, there was an empty pizza box and dirty napkins left on my bed. That’s a hard thing to do, because I had one of those top-bunk beds, the ones without the bottom bunk. I tossed the box on the floor and left it there. I was angry at her for the most part, but I didn’t want to move and I had the option of hanging out across the hall. If you are going to be living with roommates, make sure you know the people you are going to live with. Otherwise, you could end up with someone you hate or someone you find is disturbing.

When out partying, you should always be with a friend or two. They’ll hopefully make sure you don’t sleep with the wrong person. And if you are drinking at a party where you don’t know very many people, it’s a good idea to keep a clear head. I don’t suggest you take that second or third cupful of sangria someone offers you, because you could end up making out on the living room floor in an apartment you don’t know, in front of twenty people you’ve never met before, and then moving to go make-out in a dark closet. (Unless, of course, that is exactly what you intend to do.) Promiscuosity happens, wherever there is a steady flow of alcohol.

Be smart. Be safe. Buddy system your way through those sleazy parties. Make absolute sure that your performance in class is solid, because there is no good excuse for failure. You have to be able to accept any bad grade as your fault if you’ve decided to party it up while away from home. If you were good enough to get accepted into college, you are good enough to pass.

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