A couple of weeks ago, a friend asked me what I think about when I hear “UNA.”

Without giving it a second thought, my answer flew out of my mouth: fall.

Fall – it’s a time full of promise and excitement. Baby Lions join the pride, college football makes its return and the campus turns into a sea of red and golden hues.

Much like the fall semester, your first year of college is a new beginning. It’s a clean slate and a chance to start over. It’s a chance to be who you want to be, with roughly 7,000 other people who don’t already know you.

For many of you, this is your first semester in college. This is your first time away from home. It was your first football game as a college student, and you’re starting to fill your social calendar with function upon function.

Or maybe you aren’t doing that. Maybe you feel lost on campus and don’t know where to start. With the freedom to do – and be – what you want also comes an overwhelming sense of responsibility.

Often times, I wish I could talk to 18-year-old me. I wish I could go back to that first fall semester, when I was a wide-eyed and clueless freshman hell-bent on never making a mistake. I was fooled into believing the lie that freshman orientation meant choosing the one academic path that would lead me to the career I’ll someday hold. I was unsure of what to be involved in, so I joined everything.

But by taking an interest in everything, I quickly learned what I wasn’t interested in at all. I’m not advocating for making commitments you don’t follow through on, but you’ll never know what you don’t like if you just sit in your room all year.

As for choosing a major you’ll have for the next four years? For a select few, that works. Some people know what they’re meant to study. For the rest of us, it might take a couple of tries to get it right.

And you know what? That’s OK. I wish someone had told me that when I was 18 years old. You’re not supposed to have all of the answers yet.

No matter what, don’t start your undergraduate experience off with regrets. Don’t spend the future wondering, “What if?” Trust me, it’s not worth it. Be responsible, but push yourself outside of your comfort zone. Try new things. Experience everything that this place has to offer.

In a lot of respects, I’m glad I don’t have a do-over. I don’t have the chance to change a single thing, and that in and of itself might be the biggest blessing I’ve been afforded over the last four years. Who knows what, or where, I might be otherwise?

So, as the weather cools down and the leaves begin to change colors, know that the place you’ve chosen to call your home is just that – it’s home. This is a new beginning. It’s what you make it, and I hope you make your experience every bit as awkwardly wonderful as my own has been. Embrace the next four – or five or six – years, because they’re going to truly be some of the best of your life.