First and most importantly, you’re going to have a great time. College will be the time of your life when you’re most alive. That’s right, it’s all downhill from here on out. So, enjoy your few short years here and make the most of them.

You won’t be the same person in four years. You’ll mature at an alarming rate and you’ll notice a huge difference between you now and you at graduation.

Sac State is a commuter campus. Less than 2 percent of its 28,000 students live in on-campus housing. Whether you’re in the residence halls or not, you should get involved in some type of on-campus club or organization to make friends.

The fun part of college isn’t the classes. Joining a club or organization your first year will make you more social. You’ll make more friends and feel a closer connection to your campus.

Don’t avoid the rush week and club booths in the quad during the first weeks of school. Try to find something you’re interested in. Many of Sac State’s clubs are free, so if you don’t like one try another; at least you’ll be socializing.

Sac State’s campus is big—more than 300 acres. You can attend for years and not know where everything is. Take a day and get your friends to walk around campus with you. Familiarize yourself with buildings on campus.

Go to the Well and sign up. Check out the rock wall or intramural sports. You can also get free medical care and discounted prescription medications, as well as free contraception and counseling. You pay for these benefits with your student fees whether you use them or not—so you might as well take advantage of them.

Did you know we have one of the best bike trails in the state right behind school? You probably didn’t know there’s a Japanese tea garden in front of the library. Also, the school arboretum at the front of campus is not only beautiful but one of the only quiet spots to study outside. Download the Sac State app for your smartphone, this includes a map of the campus.

The single thing most of our staff regretted was not getting involved in campus earlier. That being said, we can rest easy in our old age knowing you won’t make the same mistakes.

You’re not in high school anymore. You go to school with thousands of people of the opposite sex. Unless they go to Sac State as well, you should break up with the significant other you were dating in high school. Look, we know you’re in love and your relationship is “different” – we were in your situation just a few years ago. However, we regret not breaking up with our high school boyfriends and girlfriends.

We understand you care about this person, but a long-distance relationship combined with the changes college brings isn’t a good match. Start fresh and enjoy your college dating experience.

We also wish we had taken more fun classes. You have to take GE classes anyway, so they might as well be fun. You’ll have the option of taking classes with odd names like “natural disasters,” “magic, witchcraft and religion” and “multicultural puppetry.” Don’t be turned off by the weird sounding names — it probably means they’re interesting.

There’s nothing worse than the resident coordinator of your building calling mommy and daddy to tell them you’ve been caught drinking underage at some dorm party.

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is wasting your parents’ money by partying too much and not going to class. You’ll know when it’s getting out of control when you’re too hungover from your Monday night beer-pong league to go to your 8 a.m. English class.

Not only will you notice your grades slipping but excessive partying can lead to all kinds of nastiness like academic probation and DUIs. Don’t be the guy who was too lazy to call a cab and got nailed with a combined $6,600 DUI fine after one too many games of wine pong.

State Hornet Editorial Staff can be reached at [email protected]