My first day of college? Well, much of the same: ditch mom and dad after they take me downtown to eat at an expensive restaurant but don’t marvel at the used, rusted bed frame, desk and chair; shove any and all syllabi materials into a folder and go back to texting on my BlackBerry, chase down the closest seat to the cutest cutie in the room (but don’t get too close, you’ll look desperate), eat lunch surrounded by strange, potential friends and wait for my final class to end to call mom and dad.

I wish I could have pressed rewind and told my six-year-old self to remember exactly how I felt on my first day of kindergarten because 12 years later I’d be retracing my steps as a freshman in college. Reason #4353453578768 why life should come with a remote.

Unfortunately, life doesn’t come with a remote. (I mean, really, what are the Apple geniuses and Bill Gates of the world doing if they’re not inventing people-activated remotes yet!?)

So, uh, like I was saying… oh, yeah, life doesn’t come with a remote and ultimately we end up repeating a lot of the same life lessons and experiences in different contexts and locations. That being said, let’s connect the dots of kindergarten and college! I guarantee the same smooth moves you were making in your Velcro LA Gear Light-Ups you’re still making today in your slip on TOMS.

How, you may be asking yourself, does one come to know such things?

Setting aside my refined, exclusive investigative talents and my keen sense of intellect… it’s all in the playbook; the rules; The Dummies’ Guide To; The Barron’s Book of… all right there, folks.

I’m shouting out all you soon-to-be freshmen right now. The life lessons you already learned in your first few days of kindergarten you get to learn again in your first few days of college. It’s like holding the answer key to your chemistry test while retaking the exam. Bingo!

The first rule is to make a friend. Anyone. Anywhere. Now is not the time to be picky. Just pick someone. Like the days of playing in the sandbox outside Mrs. Jones’ classroom, you just need that initial human contact to get the blood flowing. Once you make a friend, you’re golden. The luxury of kindergarten is that friend might be attached to your hip all day but in college, that might not be the case. Instead, think ahead. In kindergarten it was new station, new friend, so in college just follow that same system: new class, new friend, new dorm, new friend, new lab, new friend… you get the idea, right? Chances are that by the end of your first two months of college (maybe even kindergarten, too) your initial friends will now just be acquaintances. You’ll figure your own friend circle out soon enough and you’ll coordinate when and where to meet for lunch, whether or not you have classes together and how close your dorm rooms are from one another. Until then, I’m begging you, just find a friend.

The second lesson you learn in kindergarten is partners. While in kindergarten your teacher is in charge of picking partners, on the college end you can blame (or thank) the registrar for picking your “partner.” When you’re six, your partner is the person that hangs that book-bag up next to yours, stands in line next to you, walks to and from recess with you, shares a chore with you, reads books with you and makes sure to check that you’ve pushed in your chair and cleaned off your desk. At college they’re really upping the ante with this whole partner thing. In this day and age, you actually live with your partner. Forget the three o’clock bus driving you to safety! Meet your new partner, your roommate. You will either love her, hate her or be totally indifferent toward her (a.k.a. you hate her but are trying to be above such negative language). Luckily, kindergarten and college make it possible for you to opt out of this whole partner situation. If you really don’t get along with your partner, cry. Cry, cry, cry. Your kindergarten teachers will do something to make the circumstances livable and if they can’t, they’ll give you a new partner. The Higher Up’s at college make it a little more complicated. Request a move. Talk to your R.A. And if you must, cry.

Try not to become a hysterical, sobbing mess if and when you get lost.  Kindergarteners and freshmen in college are the easiest targets to spot in a school setting because they always have that Mom-just-caught-us-with-the-lights-on look about them. As a former kindergartener (many, many moons ago) and a former freshman (in more recent history), I’ve been in your disoriented, lost and confused shoes one too many times to count. It happens to us all, even if we are too prideful and say it never did, rest assured because it definitely did. Give yourself the benefit of the doubt, college freshies, and carry a map. Or go explore campus during freshman orientation. Walk from class building to class building and try to at least familiarize yourself with your surroundings. I’d tell you to take notes on where to go, but lets face it, I didn’t and neither will you. For all you Kindergarteners out there, if you lose your way and all else fails remember this: you are a tiny, six-year-old little, harmless adorable human. Someone will find you if you are lost. But if that person takes too long, you have every right to cock your teeny, tiny head toward the clouds and wail your heart out.

“Everybody else was doing it”…. eh, not such a good excuse anymore.  If Jimmy and Tommy were throwing rocks at the girls at recess, then Johnny, that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea for you to do it, too. Bad, bad, bad idea. Even worse idea when you start throwing around phrases like cops, LSD, underage drinking, destroying school property, drawing on your R.A.’s door and flooding all the toilets on the first and third floor bathrooms. To all my future trouble makers: although it may be exciting and spur-of-the-moment because all your trouble making friends are doing it too, do yourself a favor and do it better so that you don’t get caught. Five o’clock in the morning phone calls home begging for bail money isn’t exactly the best way to get on mom and dad’s good graces.  Plus, if mom and dad find out you were in time-out, kiss Nick at Night and dessert goodbye!

This last lesson might take longer than a week for little kindergartener’s to truly get a firm grasp of but all you veteran high school folk and freshly college freshies should know this one like the back of your hand.  Get involved! Be outgoing. Try new things. You’re in a whole new place with a once in a lifetime opportunity to reinvent yourself any which way you choose. Paint with your fingers or your toes. Hell, paint with your earlobes. Don’t be afraid to join a totally outrageous club or link up with the Librarians for Literacy movement. Go for a Naked Bike Ride or dread your hair. Who cares! You’re young and fresh, man. (Get it? Get my really good play on words? No? Okay. Fine.)

After feeding your eyeballs and brains with enough knowledge to last you your first week of kindergarten and college four times over, here’s my last piece of educated advice. Spend as much time as possible doing what you love. Keep doing it. Forever. Even if it’s playing with Legos or braiding Barbie’s hair. Let your passions drive you.

Freshman year is an incredible experience. For many, it’s the first taste of Keystone freedom, the first foray into frat parties out into the world. You‘ll drink with meet people from all walks of life. You’ll quickly wonder how you ever survived without your newfound friends.

But be warned: for every awesome new friend that you make, you’ll find yourself face to face with an enemy. Not a “sleep with one eye open” enemy; more like a “OMG I want to gouge out my eyes whenever you come near me” type.

Here are my personal picks for people to avoid:

The “Busy” Roommate- The first parent-free weekend, I was woken up by the rhythmic creaking of my roommate’s lofted bed. The second week of classes, I was woken up on Thursday night by a guy pounding on the door looking for her around 3 A.M, and she came in the following morning trailing a (different) guy from my English class. If you’re really lucky, you won’t be woken up like I was – you’ll be permanently sexiled. It’s not like you need to get into your room or anything, right?

The Bad RA- A good RA should have a balance of helpfulness and friendliness. She’s not supposed to be your best friend, but she’s also not supposed to be so aloof that you can’t relate to her either. Some RAs are overzealous, which can be more than a little annoying; like the RA who refused to start the floor meeting until all forty girls were present, even though the missing person had a legitimate reason for her absence. Even worse, though, was the RA who was so high he didn’t notice that there was an orgy going on in my friend’s room, nor did he realize my friend was out in the hall with a pillow at 4 A.M because he was trying to figure out where he could get some sleep.

The Sporadic Professor- This professor is out to prove you’re no longer in high school by giving you regular and difficult assignments. But, in order to make sure you do them, he’ll only grade them sporadically. It doesn’t sound as bad now, but it will be when you finally decide to skip on the ONE day he decides to check.

The Neighbor With the Subwoofer- Okay, I love music as much as the next person, and I love blasting it whenever I can. However, when you’re living in a building with other people, there are certain courtesies to be paid. Like not blasting your music on a crazy bass system that shakes surrounding walls, floors, and ceilings….at 11pm…during finals. This is grounds for justifiable homicide.

The Extremely Messy/Neat Roommate- Either extreme can be deadly, depending on what you’re like. I’ve seen these two paired together before and and it was the closest I’ve ever seen to an in-your-face war. If your roommate falls into one of these two categories, you will definitely have a problem. You’ll either want to strangle her for those passive-aggressive comments about how neat and tidy her side of the room is, or you’ll want to strangle her anytime her crap (read: dirty undies) creeps over to your side..

The Peter Pan Queen Bee- This girl has somehow managed to establish herself as the Queen Bee of the group/hall/floor. She chooses who’s worthy of hanging out with her and her followers, and is fickle about who she keeps around. Essentially, she hasn’t gotten the memo that high school is over. As a result, your grown-up college life will be fraught with the exact same drama you thought you’d left behind – petty gossip, rules about who you can and can’t socialize with, backstabbing, and other not-so-fun pastimes.

Crazy Drunk Naked Guy- Okay, so this one may not drive you crazy in the same way, but I do promise it will scar you for life. This guy is the reason you are warned repeatedly to double and triple-check your locks at night. The one night my roomie and I didn’t, a drunk, high, naked guy showed up in our room after relieving himself in the hallway, then refused to leave. Variations of the Crazy Drunk Naked Guy include 2 A.M streakers, the frat boy who peed in the fridge, and the guy who stood in the doorway watching the girls sleep.

So I’m 3 weeks into my bright college years, and in between realizing that I have Spanish homework to do at 1 in the morning and figuring out how trash piles up so quickly when clearly I took out the garbage like, a day ago, there are plenty of Solo cups and pregaming parties to keep my thoughts occupied.

In the past year, I passed through the rookie stage of drinking. You know, getting over the fact that drinking isn’t such a big deal after all (I know some may beg to differ, which I totally respect, but step off for a sec, darlings) and then advancing into classic teen movie, drink up mode. It was like I was Cady Heron (a la Mean Girls) being de-innocentized, except minus The Plastics. There were chill house parties, high-ish quality alcohol bought by nice older siblings, and then classic senior year, I-don’t-give-a-f**k debauchery. Getting to a stage of happy drunk was part of the whirlwind of senior year and really, part of the fun. But I was good about it – no blacking out and never even vomiting.

So coming to college, I was under the impression that it would be the same, but something about drinking here just doesn’t feel settling to me. The glowy halo of happiness that surrounded drinking just totally disappeared.

I know, totally weird, right? Because, like, obviously drinking is much simpler here. There aren’t quite as many repercussions when you get caught, alcohol is pretty much readily available, and the number of boys who you would willingly drunkenly hook-up with has gone through the freakin’ roof.

But for some reason, after 3 weekends worth of pregaming and taking LMFAO seriously (shots! shots! shots!), I just don’t know if drinking is as worth it in college.

I mean, I don’t want to stumble around being known forever as That Girl. Also, both my roommate and I are mistaken for drunk when we aren’t drunk at all just due to our normal personalities, so I figured that adding drinking on top of that was unnecessary. And who needs the extra calories of a few cans of beer? Not I – the dining hall fries are good enough for me.

So I tested out this whole not drinking business last weekend, and surprise, life was perfectly grand. I had a Hollywood caliber night minus a Lindsay Lohan caliber hangover the next morning and I honestly don’t feel like I missed out on much. Debauchery? Check. Dancing? Check. Dudes? Check. I’ve got everything I need.
I’m not saying that I don’t condone drinking – I do, but I’m just not feelin it right now. And I’m not sue I ever will.

Alcohol free for the rest of freshman year? Maybe.

College: a time of growing up, trying new things, and, of course, meeting new people. From the bitchy girl in Chem class to the hot guy from a frat party, freshman year brings a slew of different characters. While no two people share quite the same college experience, there are a few archetypal personalities that, without a doubt, can be found on a freshman floor.

The mom
Armed with maturity to boot, the mom is a super-nurturer. Her room is always clean and she looks out for everyone on the floor as if they were, well, her kids. She suggests the healthy foods from the dining hall, has a fully stocked First Aid kit, and is always there to hold hair back when a friend drank a little too much (but how often does that happen in college anyway?)

The study freak
It’s 4.0 or bust for this super studier. Weekends come and go as she is holed up in her room preparing for her next exam, group presentation, you name it. You getting the hall together for a movie night? Count her out – she’s got reading due next Thursday. Want to throw a little pre-party in your room? Keep it down, because this girl’s in bed by 10 p.m. to prepare for the rigorous study day ahead.

The trust fund kid
He’s used to getting everything handed to him on a silver platter, and has no problem letting people know it. This guy’s “subtlety” involves mentioning the trips he’s taken on his yacht and boasting about his entirely Brooks Brothers wardrobe. His sense of entitlement often means his self-presumed right to get with any girl on the floor.

The guy with the guitar
Convinced he’s the next John Mayer, this guy carries his guitar around and is ready to rock anytime. From the common room to a crowded frat party (to alone in his room at 3pm on a Wednesday), he doesn’t see any limitation on when or where to bust out a jam sesh. No, everyone doesn’t always want to hear your Dispatch cover songs, bro.

The party animal
Always up for a good time, this girl has her mini-fridge stocked with cheap vodka and beer at all times. She’s what you’d call the life of the party. That is, until she passes out on a couch, floor, or lawn by 11:30. Even after a rough night, though, no hangover will keep this gal from getting her party on the next night. And the night after that. And the morning after that night.

You can only imagine, then, my internal fight to read the September Issue of Glamour. It’s over 400 pages, people. You try lifting that to your face.

Whew. I needed a moment to catch my breath just from typing that. Before I pass out in a pool of sweat and melted ice cream, let’s take a moment to turn on the A/C and reflect on the hot-ass week that was.

* As quickly as Mother Nature dragged in weather that makes me feel like I’m suffocating inside of a leopard print Snuggie, she’s going to drag the blanket from under us and bring on the lovely season of fall. That also means college (!) is beginning! Lucky for us, Ben Bator (creator of my number one guilty pleasure – TFLN) fills us in on the dos and donts of college.

* And if that’s not enough to get you through them college days, we’re here to help you with your new wardrobe options and all your roommate woes.

* Speaking of college, are you ready for the shopping spree(s….you know you always forget something) with your parental units at Bed Bath & Beyond? We are. And your parents may not know what they’re getting into…

* He looked up and to the left when he said hello to me this morning.  He texted me 5.6 hours after we got ice cream on Thursday. He told me he liked Sponge Bob right after I said I love taking baths. Does he like me?? Let the Dude fill you in.

* OK, so some of them might be Guido juiceheads with bad hair and too-tight shirts who like to smush, but at the end of the day, maybe bros aren’t so bad. Yes, really.

* Pogs or yo-yos? Stirrup leggings or smiley face shirts? The nineties are seeping into CollegeCandy in August Madness: I Love the 90′s Round Three. Go, vote. Before your love for that cute lil’ yellow Pokemon is overturned by something creepy like, Furbys.

And while you’re at it, don’t forget to enter to be the witty, smart, fabulous and fun Sorority Insider on CollegeCandy. Read up on the great opportunity here!

Got room for some condoms in there?

OK, so you have your bedding, your towels, and your laptop; you think you’re ready to move off for your freshman year of college. Before you go, though, there are a couple of things that a freshman might not think to bring that will make dorm life a million times easier.

Take it from me, after 2 years in the dorms, I have this down to a science. Make room in those duffels, people; there are ten more things you’re going to have to squeeze in there.

#1 Tool Box
Yes, seriously, a tool box. My freshman year roommate had a brilliant aunt who bought her a mini tool kit as a high school graduation present (it was pink and girly). We used that thing more than anything else in the room. Yes, even our TV. Your bike break? A nail fall out of that little nightstand you bought from Ikea? Your ex leave something valuable at your place and you want to smash it? (JK….sorta.) You’ll have everything you need in that little box. Guys down the hall even borrowed our tools, so it’s even a social item!

#2 Condoms
This should just be common sense. Even if you don’t plan on having sex in college, you seriously never know what will happen, so be smart and prepare! The best part is that this one you don’t really even need to buy; most schools give them away for free at the student health center, so hop on over there and stock up.

#3 Duct Tape
This one is along the same lines as #1; it pretty much fixes anything. But beyond that, there’s some awesome stuff you can do with duct tape for really cheap room decor! I’ve seen everything from duct tape vases to closet doorway “beads.”

#4 Oven Mitt
Believe me when I say the stuff that you make in your little dorm microwave is HOT. I’ve burned my fingers on too many Easy Mac bowls to not give this as advice. Save your fingers, get a mitt!

#5 Febreeze
Whether you ran out of clean clothes and don’t have time (or quarters) for laundry, you spent the night at a frat party surrounded by drunk smokers, or you’ve been doing your own smokin’ in the dorm room and don’t want the R.A. to find out, Febreeze will save the day every time.

#6 Mini-Vacuum
Probably my dumbest move of freshman year was getting a navy blue rug. That sucker showed every.single.spec.of.dirt.EVER. I ended up buying a little, mini-vacuum for $10 and it was soooo handy, and not just for the rug. Or all those times I spilled Rice Krispies. Without being able to open windows, dust gathers much faster in a dorm room. It was a life saver for my allergies.

#7 First Aid Kit
Make your mom happy and get a small thing of Band-Aids, aspirin, triple antibiotic ointment, and various other helpful items. You’re not going to be invincible; you will get cuts and scrapes…and hangovers. This will be your best friend until the end.

#8 Message Board for Your Door (with an attached marker!)
This is crucial if you have a roommate. You will most likely go days without seeing each other with all the studying, classes, and late night activities you’ve got going on. This is the best way to keep in touch with a hectic schedule. My roommate and I always had a “code drawing” so that if we had a guy in the room, we’d draw it and the other roommate would know to vacate the premises. It’s also great to leave each other nice messages to cheer each other up!

#9 Book Light
Yeah, desk lamps are great, but one you can clip on to your book is even better. Roommates often live on opposite schedules and you must prepare for that. My freshman year roommate always studied when I was trying to sleep, and my sophomore roommate always slept when I studied. It really makes everyone happy when you just get a mini book light. You can see what you’re reading, and your roommate won’t be disturbed.

#10 Sewing Kit
Buttons fall off. Clothes rip. Costumes need jerry-rigging. So much stuff can be fixed with a needle and thread. Fortunately, I worked in the theater department’s costume shop my freshman year and learned how to sew. If you don’t know how, find someone who does and get a quick lesson before you head off to college. Then pack this tiny life saver. Hell, it might even be a form of income; the guys next door to me would pay me to fix their stuff for them. Beautiful.

I remember the days of running around Bed Bath and Beyond with my parents, frantically scrounging the aisle for that perfect plastic bin to stash all of my Ramen. Talk about a brutally long scene of events.  I stood in the florescent-lit aisles of so many department stores I started dreaming about shower caddies, futon throw blankets and Audrey Hepburn posters.

However, my parents were more than generous when they stashed the cart with college-goodies.  Especially food.  I think my mother thought I was going to eat all my food the first day, never have the desire/money to buy anymore and end up looking like a famished kid come Christmas.  Bless their hearts, ma and pa provided me with everything I would ever need in a my 8X8 dorm room.

And they didn’t even realize the half of it.

Although my parents made sure I had just about everything to satisfy my college-soul when I hightailed it to party-town, there are some sneaky things they didn’t even realize they’d purchased.  I’m not saying I smuggled a box of Trojans in between my binders; I’m simply stating there are some things out there your mama and papa can buy you that serve a college purpose they’ll never know or understand.

Allow me to explain.
Note: I really hope my mother never reads this. I love you, Ma!

1. Bed Sheets
As you cruise the household aisles for the sheets, make sure to snag some with the highest thread count best potential for toga parties. Read: a solid set. How will the parental units ever know?  My mom always insisted I had an extra set of sheets “just in case I never had the time/drive to wash ‘em.” What mama didn’t know, however, is that changing a set of sheets on a dorm bunk is a lot less satisfying (and a lot more work!) then looking positively fabulous at your first college toga party.

2. Plywood Board
This is easy; all you have to do is tell your parents the bottom of your bunk sinks in when you sleep on it. Then boom, you have a make-shift beer pong table. Before you know it, you will be bouncing ping pong balls (those you probably have to buy on your own will) and sipping warm Keystone from a red cup. In your own dorm room. ‘Where the party at?’ is your new motto.

3. Socks
What other reason would your parents think of where you would need socks – other than keeping your feet warm and stank-free? The sock on the door trick when you’re getting busy in the bedroom? Exactly, my friend.

4. White Bar Soap/Whiteout
With all that personal decorating in college (i.e. posters, re-arranging massive dressers, etc.) nicks on the wall come in packs of HUGE.  And you know what that equals: lots of money come the end of the semester to repair. But with some handy bar soap or a nice bottle of Whiteout, you won’t have to tell daddy-o he needs to match the paint (or write another check) after you terrorized your room while when you ripped the posters from the wall in a drunken rage the other night. All you gotta do is take that bar of soap your parents bought you in September and fill in the holes in the walls. Voila.

5. Snorkel
Come Spring Break season, parents won’t bat an eyelash when you beg them for a snorkel for your Cancun trip. You want to see the coral reef, the wildlife, the ocean. Where is the harm in that? Before you know it, you will be examining the Nemo’s under the sea filtering keg beer into the snorkel’s spout to the tune of ‘Freshman, Freshman!’ coming from the surrounding crowd.

6. Fruit
There’s this delicacy I like to call WHM…

7. Garbage Bags / Dawn Dish Soap
My freshman year, a ton of students took to the quad late at night with dish soap and garbage bags.  No, they did not scrub the sidewalks and pick up empty beer cans.  They constructed a slip n’ slide. If you want to be as awesome as they were for creating one of the messiest and happiest nights of my life, match their stride. Load up on the bags, ladies.

8. Permanent Markers
You want to label your folders, work on school presentations, or do art projects…. on people’s faces/your brand new beer pong table (See #2).

9. Birth Control Pill
My mom still thinks I am on birth control to regulate my period while living around so many other women. And I just keep letting her believe it.

10. Vitamin Water
“But Mom, when I work out I want to gain back all of those healthy electrolytes so I can efficiently study.” Except replace “work out” with “follow a tequila shot with a keg stand and then come home at 3am with only one shoe and a slice of pizza in my purse.”

[There are over 100 million sites on the Internet. 100 million! You might think you know about all the important ones (CollegeCandy, Gmail, Google, TFLN…), but there are thousands of other sweet sites out there (like BadDateTV; Beauty Story; and Dear Blank, Please Blank) and more showing up every day! We get it – it’s not easy or fun sifting through the crap and porn to find those gems, so we’re gonna bring the gems to you. Just sit back, kick up those feet and allow us to introduce you to the diamonds in the internet rough.]

It’s already August (I know, where did the summer go?!), and in just a few short weeks, most of you will be heading back to school.  Which means now is the perfect time to start your back-to-school shopping!  Sure, all you new freshmen will definitely have more that you need to buy than those baller upperclassmen, but even if you’ve been at school for year or two, I’m sure there’s still a few new things you’ll need to get before you move back into the dorms or that sick new off-campus party pad.

Pretty much every store has sales on back-to-school essentials this time of year, so you could just head to Bed Bath & Beyond or Walmart to pick up everything you need.  But that’s not always the best option, especially if you go to school in a major city like I did and you don’t have a car. (Or if the people of Walmart scare you…)  Let me tell you, lugging giant Target and JC Penney bags on to the NYC subway and bus wasn’t exactly easy (or fun).  The website Homeslyce, however, makes the whole process a lot easier by helping find the items you’ll need and collaborate with your roommate (or roommates) online.

The first step in using Homeslyce is for you and your roommate(s) to each create your own account.  Once you add each other as roommates (by entering the other’s e-mail in the “collaborate” step), you can start shopping.  Homeslyce makes it easy with a “shopping list”: a list of common items needed for a college student’s dorm or apartment, split into categories such as furniture and bed & bath.

You can use the shopping list to choose each item individually, but Homeslyce has the great option to choose one of their premade themes – lists of items based on your individual personality and lifestyle – to help you get started.  Each theme also contains some basic items that everyone will need, such as extra-long twin sheets and hangers.  And don’t worry – no matter which theme you select, you can still add, swap out, and delete items from your cart.

Once you’ve finished picking out all your new stuff, the second step is to collaborate with your roomie.  Simply choose which items you’ll pay for and those she’ll pay for.  There’s also the option to split the cost of certain items (one person will still be responsible for paying for the whole thing, but Homeslyce tells you exactly how much each person owes and sends out reminder e-mails!), which makes things way less awkward on move-in day.  When you continue onto checkout, Homeslyce personalizes the order for each of you based on how you split things up in the previous step.  Simply pay for your share for the items (through Amazon), and that’s it!

All you have to do now is wait for your items to arrive at your door…then pay some poor frat boys with pizza to help you lug it all in to your swanky new home.

Homeslyce is an awesome resource for all you lucky fools who get to call college home and will definitely make shopping for your new dorm or apartment a whole lot easier.  I only wish it existed when I was moving into the dorms!

Got some college questions? Unsure of a decision? Making the big college transition? Just wanna chat it up with some really awesome chics? We’ve got the girls for you. Hit them up in the comments or shoot them an email with the subject “College Q&A”! They’ve got all the answers you need, no matter who you are.

Question:
My half-sister and I (by dad) are going to the same college. My dad wants us to share a room so he can buy one TV and one fridge. Cheap. Anyways I was just wondering if I am wrong for speaking up for myself about not wanting to live in a dorm my first year of college with my sister?! I mean, come on now; first of all she annoys me, second she’s messy, and third she annoys me. As consequence for not wanting to live with my sister my dad is giving everything (TV, fridge, etc.) to her and not to me.

Am I wrong for wanting to have a good freshman year without having to bitch at my sister and sacrifice our relationship over stupid things I know for a FACT were going to argue about?

GPA Girl:
I’m not going to say you should live with your half sister, but I do think you should adjust your expectations a little bit. Getting a random roommate definitely does not guarantee you a “good freshman year” and may actually make your year pretty nightmarish. However, I assume that if that happens, you’ll accept responsibility and have the decency not to complain about your roommate to your half sister or your dad. In the meantime, no, you’re not being unreasonable for wanting to live with someone else. This is your first time out on your own, and you’re well within your rights to have a say in the person with whom you share a small room. It sucks that your dad is not being cooperative, but cut the dude some slack – dorm supplies ARE expensive. Here’s my advice: Once you’re assigned a roommate, talk to her and see what she’s bringing. If she doesn’t have major supplies covered, such as the fridge and the TV, offer to split the cost of them with her, or see if you can buy them secondhand from graduating seniors. It won’t be the end of the world if you don’t live with your half sister, and your dad will get over it, so there’s no need to treat this as a big deal. Good luck!

Party Girl:
Speak up, girlfriend! Yes, you might have to fund a fridge and a TV yourself, but it’s worth it to have the freshman year you want and deserve. A few dorm room essentials aren’t enough to set yourself up for what you already know will be a pretty disastrous living situation. Especially when you consider how much your sister will be able to use against you when you guys get in a fight (and you will). Is a brand new TV really worth having your dad find out how late you come home? Or how often you don’t come home at all? You are an adult now, so speak your mind, let your sister get all the stuff and pray for a roommate that comes with a TV and fridge. And if she doesn’t, there are plenty of deals out there that are more than worth the peace, fun and independence you’ll have when you’re family- (and drama) free your freshman year.

Busy Bee:
Wow, that is really unfair. I’m wondering, did your sister have any objections? Or was she just trying to please your dad? I think you should say something! I mean, I know that they are funding most of your college education, but this is favoritism at its finest. I’m sure living with your sister saves a bundle of benjamins, but you can count out any fun college experiences if you go that way. I say you go up to your parents and tell them that this is wrong. You deserve a REAL college experience, trust me.

My freshman year of college was a complete transition from life at home and as it’s drawing to a close, I realize that the girl taking her last final exam is very different than that girl who called her parents nightly when she first moved in. I’m an older, wiser, drunker more content version of myself, and I have my first year of college to thank for that.

Since I’ll be heading back to the parentals’ pad in a few short weeks, I thought I’d look back on everything I’ve learned during my freshman year. Turns out: I’ve learned a lot.

1. Colleges Aren’t That Giant After All
When you first arrive, your campus seems huge, filled with thousands of strangers that you don’t know, and navigating around it seems to require a GPS device.  After about a month, though, you’ll be zipping around like you’ve been there for years, and everywhere you go, you’ll see people you know.  Sometimes this is not the greatest thing, but I digress.

2. Papers will be the death of you.
Papers in high school were about the same length as papers in college for me, but for some reason, in college they are far more torturous.  For one thing, they are worth so much more of your grade and an afternoon spent in the library trying desperately to pound out the damn thing is more painful than the first time riding a spin bike.  Especially when you have distractions like Facebook, anything happening outside, and the fact that you are SO BORED YOU WANT TO FAKE A HEART ATTACK TO GET OUT OF HANDING IN THAT EFFING PAPER.

3. Getting Involved Changes Everything
In my first couple of months at school, my group of friends was really limited to the girls on my hall.  I loved them, but with so many thousands of people milling around, I felt like I should do more. By branching out and joining things like the lacrosse team, the newspaper and our TV station, I made whole new groups of friends that I wouldn’t have met otherwise.

4.  Don’t Go To The Gym at 6 p.m.
Unless you want to wait 30 minutes or more to get on a treadmill.

5.  Go to the library ALONE
That is, if you want to get anything done. If you want to share funny YouTube videos, talk about the other people in the library, or play a couple hundred rounds of Chuck, F*ck, or Marry, go with your friends.

6. Cafeteria + Ethnic Food = Disaster
At our school, the powers that be sometimes think we need to switch it up from what may or may not be pulled pork and English muffins, so they introduce some ethnic choices.  Sometimes this works out. Taco Tuesday, for example, is pretty harmless. But other times, like Indian Night, it’s a hot, unidentifiable mess. And I’m not talking about the bathroom aftermath, though that is also a problem.

7. Sleep Is Important!
With all of the amazing things to do in college (and class), how does one get it all in?  The answer to many (myself included) is to cut sleeping. I spent the entire semester being poked awake in a 10 am class by my friend, and sometimes complete strangers.  Falling asleep in class not only causes you to miss out on important stuff, but it’s humiliating. Especially when there’s drool.