To learn more about the college experience, we reached out to a couple of experts on the topic: Mary Dell Harrington, Co-Founder of Grown & Flown, and Lynne Fuller, Founder of College Flight Path. They were kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and explain what students should know before enrolling.

"Don't believe the myth that college is the 'best four years' of your life," Mary Dell says. "Most first year students find college to be a challenge on many levels, especially during that first semester."

"While students have the ability to do well in their courses, college academics are very different than high school classes, but not necessarily because they're harder. The cadence of assignments and the free time during which students need to complete them requires students to develop an entirely new set of time management skills," Mary Dell explained. "Teens don't enter college with those skills in place but will need to create them, which takes time."

"It also takes time to adjust socially from being with hometown friends and family to finding a friend group. The shared experiences that transform acquaintances into close friends don't happen overnight but over the course of weeks and even months," the expert continued. "Students should try to take comfort in knowing that they are not alone in feeling homesick or disoriented, especially early on."

Lynne also shared her top five pieces of advice for new college students. First, she suggests getting a blood panel done to know your health baseline when heading off to college. "So many students ignore what healthy eating, sleeping, and movement habits do for them when they are involved in PE, Health, team sports, and intramurals at home, coupled with balanced meals," the expert noted.

"Knowing what your health baseline is before changing your living situation entirely is important, especially if you get really sick that first semester," Lynne explained. "This also leads to having a plan if you get sick, figuring out what the university requires in terms of connecting with advisors and teachers before you run a fever or have been hit by the latest norovirus can be helpful."

"If you plan, then dealing with the steps to ensure you are not docked in your grade due to illness is most certainly worth the preparation," she continued. "Additionally, do not forget to get everyone's contact information to share with a parent via a group chat, that way if someone falls ill there are multiple eyes on your wellbeing."

Next, Lynne recommends building relationships with your future roommate, upperclassmen, advisors, and the alumni network. "All of these people will become part of what you are investing in for your future career," she noted. "It is also helpful to register for pre-orientation programs and welcome events, so you can start to connect with those who are also heading off to school with you."

It's also a good idea for college students to learn how to be independent. "There will not be someone to wake you up, tell you when to go to bed, how to do your laundry (unless you pay for a service), make basic meals (unless you get a Factor subscription), and set social media limits," the expert continued. "These are all important activities that need to be completed unprompted, so learn to persist on your own."

Lynne's next tip is learning how to "reverse calendar" the semester. "Start from finals and work your way backwards through all assignments, quizzes, tests, and papers to figure out when the heavy academic weeks will be," she explained. "If there are hard classes that you know you are taking in the first semester, get organized with a tutor straight away, do not wait! The good ones go quickly."

And finally, she recommends introducing yourself to your professors and establishing a relationship before you have a question or need to make a request of them. "It is better to be proactive than reactive," Lynne shared. "Sending an introductory email can help build relationships and find a mentor."

The expert also has a whole checklist featuring more of these helpful tips on College Flight Path.

Next, we asked the experts what advice they would give to college students who feel like they don't have anyone to confide in or open up to.

"The disorientation students feel on a new campus, living in a small shared dorm space with a stranger, and not being close with anyone (yet) can make it a challenge to find someone to confide in," Mary Dell told Bored Panda. "Most campuses have mental health resources, and students should access those resources just like they would if they are physically ill. Dr. Lisa Damour wrote this guide to how to find a therapist at college."

She added that students should also reach out to their parents with any problems or concerns. "If they feel more comfortable, any caring adult they have been close with in life, such as a former teacher or coach may also be helpful to them to just listen or brainstorm ideas or solutions."

"The beauty of heading off to college is that everyone is in the same boat. Everyone is new to campus," Lynne shared. "In fact, there is a common set of fears and excitement when embarking on this adventure which helps facilitate friendships much faster. Having an open mind to who you will meet and click with is important."

"It is easy to fall into casual routines with friends, but investing quality time through game nights and activities can make it easier to build genuine relationships," she noted. "It is also important to spend some quality time in small groups, not just large ones. Spreading out the time spent in smaller cohorts makes it easier to fall into more meaningful conversations."

"If you feel like you are not finding your people, look for clubs and activities that you enjoy where there is a higher chance of meeting people who share something in common with you," the expert suggests. "It is important to maintain relationships with counselors, resident life advisors, and academic mentors, they too get to meet so many people across the community that they will have ideas of organizations that will welcome you to try something new. You never know who you are going to connect with and will become that unlikely mentor."

"While embarking on building new friendships, it is important to make a plan for how to maintain meaningful friendships from home," Lynne continued. "Schedule a Sunday night catch-up or a once-a-month book club and pre-plan an event when you return home for breaks or holidays. By scheduling connection time, it is much easier to continue fueling those relationships. Sometimes that can be the comfortable foundation to feel empowered to go out and try something new."

Next, we wanted to know what advice the experts would give to parents who are worried about their children adjusting to college.

"It is understandable that parents fret over how their teen is adjusting to college. While students are experiencing a transition period, so are their parents who need to get comfortable with no longer having their teen under their roof," Mary Dell shared. "One of the most powerful things parents can do is to let their teen initiate communication via a text or a call and not expect that their son or daughter will be able to have a long conversation when the parents want to talk."

But Mary Dell also wants parents to remember that it can be very helpful to listen and not to necessarily jump ahead to offer solutions or give their teen lots of unsolicited advice. "We need to remember that we are often the ones our teens come to to complain, to vent or to reveal being hurt or anxious," she explained. "It can be therapeutic for our teens to unburden themselves to us; they might not need or want us to do more than listen."

Lynne recommends that parents and students establish a time to connect every week, so there won't be any guessing about when this check-in will occur. "When a student is 18, the university does not have an obligation to share information if a student is attending class (or missing class), how they are doing in their program, or if their roommate overdosed and Narcan was administered," she noted. "This sounds extreme, but it happens more often than you think."

"Yet, if families set a time to video conference weekly, then families can see what is happening with their student. I have heard too many horror stories of when there is not consistent communication that establishing a plan and sticking to it helps avoid a lot of issues, especially when there are roommate problems, coursework stressors, or other issues that ultimately arise during the transition to college," Lynne shared. "I have often received 'I'm lonely' or 'I'm struggling' texts where I hop on a call and talk with former students about what is going on and how they can persist through that feeling and establish a purposeful plan to navigate through these rougher times."

Finally, Mary Dell says that finding community is a powerful way students can begin to feel like college is 'home.' "It might take time and some unsuccessful tries before they find a group and/or organization where there is a good fit. Don't be discouraged if it takes longer than you had hoped to connect with people or a group but keep trying until you do," she shared.

"Students need to remember not to be fooled by what they are seeing of their high school friends online. Few people admit their loneliness, or struggles with adjustment," the expert says. "You won't see lots of posts of new college students sitting alone in their dorm rooms. They need to remember that most have periods of loneliness and homesickness that in time go away."

And if you're looking for more insight from Mary Dell, be sure to visit Grown & Flown!

Lynne also added that there will be several inflection points during any adjustment to college, typically following the W-curve model.

"The four I see most are: homesickness (there will be a feeling of loss due to that stability), friendship/social issues (there will be a honeymoon time and then adjustment if certain relationships are not working out, think rush or picking a roommate for sophomore year), studying for college exams, and learning to troubleshoot on your own (rather than calling a family member for help)," she told Bored Panda.

"Often, the answer is to plan ahead when these moments arise and have steps to follow to navigate the unease," Lynne noted. "I have seen parents who send care packages during these times (Week 2 of college, Week 5 during the first assessments, Week 8 when homesickness sets in, and Week 12 before final exams)."

"This can be a great practice to care from afar, but also send the tools to make it through the moment like a gift certificate to a great coffee shop, cozy socks, new post-it notes or study aids, and even a fun tabletop sand garden or stapler in Jello that says funny Office sayings can be a pick me up when the world feels just a little too stressful," the expert shared.

And if you're looking for more advice from Lynne, be sure to visit College Flight Path or follow them on Instagram!

Are these memes turning your frown upside down today, pandas? Keep upvoting the ones you find particularly relatable, and let us know in the comments below what you’ve been doing recently to stay positive during this cold winter. Then, if you’re interested in checking out even more funny pics from College Confessions, look no further than right here!