The transition from high school to college can be more than a little challenging. From a different kind of course load to navigating dorm life, that first year can be daunting.

A self-dubbed “college freshman survivor,” Natalie Kalin shared her tips for making it through the transition with The Huffington Post.

Her words of wisdom include:

You can’t be good at everything (and no one expects you to be)
“When I graduated from high (s)chool, I felt like the King of Pride Rock. I graduated at the top of my class, had landed a great scholarship, and was headed to an astounding school. I thought I could nail everything that came my way. Then came Chemistry.”

You won’t have time for everything you want to do
“Plans for my life seem to be like my pile of textbooks: they only continue to grow and grow. I came into college with a plan for a minor, which turned into two minors, maybe a Master’s, and now possibly a PhD. The same was true for school involvement: should I do ten clubs? How about twelve? By the end of first semester, however, I realized a truth: I don’t have time for it all.”

Kalin wants to make sure that all incoming freshmen know that their college experiences are just as important as their classes.

“You go to college to learn. That’s the whole point of it. After having completed my freshman year, however, I realized that you learn just as much outside the classroom as you do inside it. And, believe me, these lessons will bruise you and break you just as much as the exams and labs do,” Kalin wrote.

Read the full list of tips here.

Ashley Dobson is NACAC’s communications manager for content and social media. You can reach her at adobson@nacacnet.org.