Who do you want to be? You are in a new place with new people. You could be anyone you want. This is an opportunity for a clean start. Do not create a different and inauthentic persona to play out (unless you want to); but instead, embody what is going to make you happiest. Perhaps you sought to be more extroverted in high school. Be fearless, this first year is a renaissance. Take complete advantage of it.
Who you are going to be for the following four years will be prominently sculpted by the friends and people with whom you associate yourself. The group you amalgamate into during and after orientation will change, but it sets a precedent for how others perceive you.
Let go of home. Stop checking Facebook to see your friends’ happy new lives. Turn off your phone for the first few days. Learn to love yourself, by yourself, as yourself.
Figure out your personal balance of socializing via those clubs and/or your other friends, and maintaining your benchmark grades. University is every bit as much about developing as an adult as it is learning.
Love your new home from the start. It will be uncomfortable and lonesome, you will yearn for some sense of security, but you will be thankful later if you endure the unknown.
Go to club fairs and events. Join three clubs that you would have never considered before. Learn how to dance. Volunteer at a homeless shelter. Read philosophical novels and discuss them. Play tennis. Taste wine. Allow yourself to be brand new
Lastly, there is no path. The path will appear as you walk. Let go of how you think things should be, and simply appreciate this as the fresh experience that it is. Keep advancing onward, be grateful for where you are, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised where you eventually end up.