by Robert Freeman

Created on: December 09, 2011   Last Updated: May 29, 2012

Each year of a college student's career is different. Within the span of the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year of college, student's learn different things about their program of study, themselves, their friends, and life in general. Of all the years at college perhaps the freshman year is the one where students who go to school away from home learn the most.

There are countless lessons this type of college freshman learns in their first year away from home. In truth the lessons learned could fill a sheet a mile long with some tweaks here and there to fit each student's personal journey but for the sake of saving time and space, the five most common lessons learned by students going to college away from home are listed below.

How to (Or not to) Manage Money

One of the greatest luxuries of being a child and teenager is that for the most part you get to count on your parents for providing money to get you food, clothing, a home, and other necessities. Along with this, the parental figures also get to deal with the stress and sometimes agony of managing that money to make sure there is enough to go around. The average child or teenager has very little to do with this money management process while at home, but that all changes when he or she leaves the nest to go to college.

Unless a college freshman finds him or herself on structured money plan where they have food, shelter, and all other necessities provided for them without having to worry about money, then the individual has to do some sort of money management in order to survive. A college freshman's budget might not be as intense as their parents but the seeds of a full-fledged adult budget are planted here. These individuals; the ones who go to school away from home; generally learn more quickly than their counterparts how to manage their money; or in some cases, how to not manage their money.

How to Cook

In most homes the preparing of meals is commonly done by a parent with little to no help from the children so the first real time the kids get lessons on how to cook is when they are forced to because they are away from home at college. It is a common story to hear that a college freshman starts his or her year off with eating Ramen Noodles and P.B. and J sandwiches but finishing the year eating spaghetti and meatballs.

Going hand in hand with managing money, learning to cook for oneself is a common lesson that is often learned out of necessity for a college freshman. Eating Ramen Noodles and

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