My first week of college was nerve-racking, chaotic, and amazing all at the same time. I remember being extremely nervous and excited as I started this new chapter of my life. I did not what to do, how to act, or what to expect. Luckily, that dreaded first week is finally over, and now I can finally relax!

I come from a small town, so I was not sure what to expect on such a large college campus. My high school only had about 700 people in it, so the mass crowds and all the chaos was overwhelming to me. I have heard many stories and tips on what to expect from college from some of my friends, but I am a first generation college student, so my family was just as excited and nervous as I was.

The first day was filled with anxiousness. I had already walked the campus a few weeks prior to find my classrooms and get familiar with my new school. However, on my first day, I had suddenly forgotten where my classes were located. Luckily I was able to find them all on my own. As I sat down in my first class of the day, I remember feeling just a sort of emptiness. I am a very organized person, and I hate change, so not knowing how exactly this whole college thing was going to work made me very uncomfortable.

As frightening as it was, my first two days weren’t so bad. After my teachers explained how their class worked and what I should expect, I felt much better. It was a new experience for me, but now I am loving the opportunities and really embracing my college life!

There are still some things I am getting used to about college. In my opinion, high schools don’t do a very good job of preparing you for college. Hardly anything about college is the same as high school. Thankfully, there are many resources and someone is always willing to help out.

Now that I am in a better routine at school, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Now I can finally focus on my future and my career!

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.