College can be a great experience, especially if you find a great group of friends in your dorm hall or classes during the first week of school. However, it can also be as taxing on our self-esteem and mental states as high school was. 

It’s easy to want to fit in with a specific crowd, and you may find yourself trying to change your body and personality to represent a clique. An important thing to remember is if the people you want to be friends with aren’t accepting you as is, they aren’t worth it. Friends should love you for who you are, not who you are trying to be. 

Take me for example: I chose to go to college for engineering and I still wanted to be a part of a newspaper, because though they’re different, they are both passions of mine. When I came to college, I made sure to join the school newspaper while working toward becoming an engineer. If you’re passionate about multiple things, know you can pursue all of your passions at Iowa State.

Even though I am not a journalism major, I still enjoy working for the Iowa State Daily. Saying that, I don’t change my personality between talking to my friends as the newspaper and talking to my friends from my thermodynamics class. I have found some amazing friends that love me for who I am.

If you are coming to college and you aren’t sure exactly what you want to do or what you are interested in, take the leap of faith and apply for something you think you might be interested in or try new things around campus. There are hundreds of clubs and organizations on campus that would love new members.

Some of the best things to do in college to keep yourself mentally and physically healthy is to eat healthy, let yourself have one or two cheat days/recovery days, run every now and again (yes, running between classes counts) and stick to who you are instead of changing for someone else. If you choose to change, do it because you want to.

For example, if you suddenly find you have a passion for exercise you didn’t previously, go to State Gym and run to your heart’s content. 

No matter what you choose to do, do it for you. If a significant other, friend or anyone else pressures to change how you look, how you act or anything else, they aren’t really a true friend. There are so many people at Iowa State, leaving bad friends for the possibility for some lifelong ones is the best move you could make.