Dear Freshmen,

Dear Freshmen Class of 2014,

How can I encourage you? This past year has been unexplainable. I hope you have already begun to feel the freedom and responsibility settling in. When I left home last year I had no idea what to expect, and so I hope to give you all a few things I wish I had heard this time last year.

1) Err on the side of being too professional. First impressions on professors are everything, if a professor thinks you are a certain stereotype they will bill you as that for the entire semester. And they will grade you as such. It's almost like food service in that the professor is always right. Use humility and tactfulness in all your dealings with them and you should make the grades you deserve.

2) Don't go home every weekend. While I love my parents I may have gone home one too many weekends. Enjoy the freedom and get used to enjoying your own company. This really has been the hardest lesson for me so far, considering I have been deathly afraid of being alone. But you will enjoy this year so much more if you can be comfortable with going to a movie or going shopping by yourself. One thing that's helped me the most is using this time to be alone with God. Which you absolutely can never have too much of. And when all else fails: Wander. I have gotten so much out of just wandering around campus talking to God and running into friends. Don't ask how, but I have.

3) Let yourself make mistakess. (I originally went back and deleted the extra s, but then that seemed hypocritical.) Trust me, you WILL make mistakes, and big ones, but if you bash yourself over the head for every single one you will be a very unhappy person. Laugh it off. If you've read my blog from the first day last year you can clearly see, this took me awhile to understand too. But what you don't know was that the first semester I made all A's and the Dean's list as well as scoring a first role in my first audition. Not to say this is of my own doing, it was all God's work and He alone deserves the glory.

That's all that comes to mind at first glance, but if you ever have any questions feel free to comment them or facebook them to me and I'll try to help. In closing, pursue God; He loves you so fiercely it'd be a shame to close without echoing what I am sure you already know. Christ loves you so much, don't take it for granted.

Have fun!
Elyz