Then came move-in day.

"Inspiring advice" isn't what I needed ringing in my ears as I tried to unpack an SUV full of clothes and things I thought I couldn't live without.

I just wanted to know how to get it into my room before getting a parking ticket.

People were everywhere, and I couldn't carry my burdensome bags and boxes.

Two semesters later, Penn State still has people everywhere, and I still have trouble lugging around my huge purse/backpack combination, but one thing has changed since August: most of the advice I received before coming here doesn't mean much.

Here are some of my freshman year revelations, the advice I wish I'd heard a year ago:

All-nighters aren't worth it.

Just because the Reserve Reading Room in the library is open 24 hours a day and offers free coffee after midnight, that doesn't mean studying all night is the best way to beat a looming 9 a.m. exam. I tried, and I failed.

I was unprepared for two exams I had scheduled for Wednesday, so I tried reading three weeks' worth of material, doing pages of ejercicios and memorizing paragraphs of information the night before.

I fell asleep while studying for a few hours, then fell asleep during both exams. It wasn't the best GPA-booster, which brings me to my next revelation...

Reading the books actually helps.

I'll admit, I did know this one in high school. I'll also admit that I'd rather waste hours reading my friends' Facebook notes than reading Patterns of Democracy.

But I soon found out that Patterns isn't available on SparkNotes (yes, I'm also admitting that I actually took the time just to check).

When it came to the time for the first exam, I found out that reading was necessary, even if I had to force my eyes to stay open to make it through the text.

Never pay more than $1 per slice of pizza.

It's basically a Penn State law.

Invest in a parka.

The IST wind tunnel is, I'm convinced, part of the Arctic Circle. Not only is having a class on the far side of campus the longest possible walk from East Halls, but it's also the coldest and the windiest.

Learn how to take an exam in a square foot of space.

Exams are stressful enough, but having to take them in the Forum brings a whole new element to the agony. Dealing with toe-tappers (it's an exam, not band practice), obnoxious chewers (it's gum, not cud) or people who whisper their thought processes aloud (it's a scantron, not an oral exam), makes filling in those tiny bubbles quite a test.

Cookies from West are the main ingredient in the Freshman 15.

Those ooey-gooey cookies are so addicting but so fattening. Just one chocolate chip cookie is nearly 300 calories. They also might not sit well in your stomach. The advice "just because it's an all-you-can-eat doesn't mean you have to eat all you can" would have been much appreciated.

It's okay not to know where you'll be after graduation.

Before I came to college, I thought I had my life planned out. Where I'd go, what I'd do and when I'd do it all seemed like easy questions for a naïve high school senior. But now that I'm here, I realize I don't have answers to those questions.

First semester, I stressed about it, but now I'm okay with not having a plan. That is advice that I wish someone would have given me: Don't make plans; don't try to write the end of your story before you are comfortable with the beginning.

Instead, let the characters in your life story take you new places everyday. You never know how the ending will change.

Don't rush to the end, but cherish every sentence in your life's memoir -- freshman year and every year after that.