1. Clean your room.

When my family visited on parents’ weekend, they claimed that my room smelled like a gym locker. Just because you grow immune to the smell of vodka, dirty laundry, Neon Deli containers, and your roommate’s hockey equipment does not mean that your room is clean.

2. The more you drink, the cooler you are.

This is not true! If you are drinking on Bar Night Wednesdays, Thirsty Thursdays, Friday (Friday, gotta get down on Friday), and Fraturday, you might want to calm down a teensy bit. That said, it is fun to loosen up a bit. But I wouldn’t recommend centering your college life around partying. Every college kid needs a wild night sometimes, so that you’ll have great stories to tell on that Facebook thread you keep with your friends from back home. But you’re not likely to build meaningful friendships and relationships on a sweaty, freshmen-make-out-fest dance floor.

3. Bring an extra toothbrush.

I asked a friend what advice I should give to pre-frosh and she responded by saying this:

“Tell pre-frosh to bring an extra toothbrush because sometimes you bring a toothbrush, you know, and it’s all cool and stuff and then you lose your toothbrush and the ones they sell at WeShop are too expensive and Rite Aid is too far away, so you end up not brushing your teeth for a day or so.”

She was quite inebriated when she said this, but I still think it’s sound advice.

4. Use caution when perusing the ACB.

If you post a friend’s name on it, they’ll probably get shit-talked. Everyone can tell when you post about yourself. And never ever respond to a hookup post—that m4f fellow doesn’t just want to cuddle.

5. Don’t feel stupid if you have never heard of 90 percent of the bands your peers talk about.

During your time at Wesleyan, you will hear a random band being discussed. You will ask “who’s [band that no one but skinny jean aficionados from NYC/LA/Newton, Mass. have heard of]?” To which people might respond, “You’ve never heard of [band that no one but their friends have heard of]?!!!” This might frustrate you, but never fear! If you actually listen to these bands and go to the many concerts around campus, you’ll find a lot of music that you might truly like or appreciate. You can apply this logic to any aspect of college life; college is a time to embrace things you don’t normally like, or wouldn’t normally do. Branch out a little bit, absorb the influences around you, and you might find out that you actually like indie bands, playing squash, or watching obscure French movies.

6. Do as much as you can.

I spent most of my first semester here partying on my hall when I wasn’t doing schoolwork. I didn’t do very many activities and ended up with an enjoyable, but fairly small and limited group of friends. My second semester, I participated in a larger amount of activities and clubs. I didn’t get much sleep, but I ended up getting to know tons of people, having the time of my life, and making my closest friendships at Wes. So try out for a play, join an intramural sports team if you’re not on a varsity one, join an activist club, dabble in Greek life, or hop in on a drum circle. There’s something for everyone at Wesleyan, and you only have four years to make the most of it.

Steves is a member of the class of 2014.