lessons learned....

I'm finally coming to terms that my freshman year at BYU is over. That's correct- O.V.E.R. Sad day right? Despite how sad this is, I wanna tell you people a few lessons I learned and maybe you can take those and apply those for your freshman year (if you are looking forward to it in the future).
1. In high school they tell you that you are so smart, so cool, basically the bomb.com. Boys and girls, that isn't necessarily true! I'm not saying you aren't awesome! I think I am way cool! But I think we leave high school with this balloon head- we think we are way cool. If I had been a little more humble going into BYU my first semester would have been a bit better I think. I still believe that I am smart and that I am cool, but I know I have places I need to work on and I know that I need to study my eyes out in order to make the grades I want. So first piece of advice: BE HUMBLE!
2. Leaving high school I had a big group of friends, everyone basically knew who I was. I guess I was popular? Even though I never would have admitted it. When I got to BYU I thought I could only be friends with the "cool" people, especially in my ward. First semester I only hung out with an exclusive group of people which was awesome I loved my group, but it came back to hit me in the end. Second semester almost all the people in my group got boy/girl- friends and my group became seriously limited. About halfway through the semester I realized that there were tons of amazingly fun people in my ward! And I started hanging with them a lot more! My biggest regret this year is that I didn't get to know the awesome girls and boys in my ward sooner. Piece of advice #2: MAKE FRIENDS (and don't worry about being "cool")!
3. First semester I read my scriptures and said my prayers, but it was sorta like I was just going through the motions. It was like I was saying, "I'm at BYU so I have to do this to be a good BYU student." However, I came back after Christmas, having been through some stuff over the break, and realized that I neeeded to rely on the scriptures and prayer in order to get through the next semester. I began to seriously read and study the New Testament, PMG and the Book of Mormon. I finished the Book of Mormon and began reading it again. I really don't think I would have been able to make it through the semester without reading and praying every day. piece of advice #3: READ SCRIPTURES and PRAY!
4. You would think that everyone at college would be all mature and everything. News flash: they aren't! And not everyone at BYU has the type of standards that I want in my friends. You have to be selective of your friends where ever you go. I was extremely blessed to have amazing friends this year- girls and boys who were kind and supported me in everything I did. Another thing that was very important was that they uplifted me and made me want to be a better person. Friends that make you want to be better are the best because you lift and help each other through life. Piece of advice #4: CHOOSE GOOD FRIENDS!
5. First semester I took a whoppin' 17 credits- bad decision. I have always been the over achiever, but it was not smart to take that many credits my first semester. Second semester I took 14.5 credits and it was much more do-able. I was able to focus more on school and I wasn't so stressed. And I got better grades! Piece of advice #5: TAKE FEWER CREDITS!

Well that is all the advice I can think of to say right now. Basically your freshman year can be the best ever! You just have to get out there and study hard and be yourself! I learned that and I am happy I had the experiences- easy and hard- that I had!