Jessica Ekstrom - The Freshman Fabulous: The Girls Guide to College

Special Smashwords Edition

by

THE FRESHMAN FABULOUS: THE GIRLS GUIDE TOCOLLEGE

Special Smashwords Edition

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Copyright 2015 JessicaEkstrom. All rights reserved, includingthe right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded,decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into anyinformation storage and retrieval system, in any form or by anymeans, whether electronic or mechanical without the express writtenpermission of the author. The scanning, uploading, and distributionof this book via the Internet or via any other means without thepermission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law.Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do notparticipate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightedmaterials.

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Cover art and design by Laureen Hadeed

Published by Telemachus Press, LLC atSmashwords

http://www.telemachuspress.com

Visit the authors websites:

http://www.JessEkstrom.com

http://www.TheFreshmanFabulous.com

http://www.HeadbandsOfHope.org

ISBN: 978-1-941536-63-6 (eBook)

ISBN: 978-1-941536-67-4 (Paperback)

Version 2015.02.24

Hey, Im Jess!

I know what youre thinking. Whos thisgirl who thinks she knows all about college? Is she a professor? Acollege psychologist? Does a college psychologist evenexist?

To answer your last question: I have no ideaif a college psychologist exists. And therefore, you can infer thatIm not one.

To answer your first question: My name isJessica Ekstrom (people usually call me Jess), and Im a recentcollege graduate (class of 2013 all the way, baby). During college,I interned at Disney World, Make-A-Wish and the TODAYShow.

My internship at Make-A-Wish led me tocreate a company my junior year called Headbands of Hope. For everyheadband purchased, one is given to a girl with cancer and onedollar is donated to fund childhood cancer research. By the time Igraduated, Headbands of Hope became my fulltime job and wasrippling across the nation.

During college, I was a campus tour guide, agroup fitness instructor and made Deans List every semester. I wonscholarships and received the Role Model of the Year award;I had competed among students throughout the entire university. Thebiggest honor I received was being chosen to give the commencementspeech at my graduation to over 20,000 people.

Let me clarify two things

1. Even though I had success in college,thats not what this book is about. Its about finding YOURsuccess.

2. It wasnt always this way.

In high school I was rarely recognized,except for sports. My sister was the president of the student bodyat our high school (well deserved) and always at the top ofeverything. I have zero bitterness towards her. Shes hardworkingand deserves everything shes received. But going into college, Iwas tired of being in the background. I didnt want to be referredto as Heathers sister anymore. I wanted to create my ownidentity.

So I decided to try to make those four yearsinto transformation years and turn into the person I had alwayswanted to be. And I did.

Im never going to be done transforming andgrowing, but my time and experiences in college definitely servedas a launching pad in the direction I wanted to go.

Am I an expert? That depends how you defineexpert. Did I ever make mistakes? Of course, and continue to doso.

So why should you listen to me?

I have gained such a clear understanding ofthe impact college can make on a person, no matter what you study,how old you are or your background. Its a time to explore what youreally want to know about and figure out how to get there.

Now that you know about me, lets talk aboutyou

Lets start off by getting this thought outof your head: College is the best four years of your life. Playyour cards right and you will have many wonderfulexperiences up until your last days: marrying the person you love,traveling to a new country, having kids, finding a discount on thatdress you love, finally learning how to use a crock pot (I stilldont know how to use one) and many, many more.

When you walk across the stage atgraduation, there shouldnt be an overwhelming feeling of sadnessthinking the best years of your life are over. The purpose ofcollege is to prepare you to live the life you want. So even thoughgraduation marks the end of college, it marks the beginning of apotentially amazing life, too.

But one very important aspect thatsdifferent about college is that you have one shot to make it count.Sure, theres grad school and such, but it isnt the same asundergrad.

So why not make the most of it?

Everything that happens between those twosmall lines above is college. Four years (or however long yourundergrad is) might seem like a long time. However in the scope ofyour whole life, its only a little tiny piece. And that piece willcontinue to affect the rest of that line.

Its important to note that I dont meanthat you should do everything right during college. In fact, a lotof this book is about making mistakes. But its what you do afteryou fail and how you react that will truly affect the rest of yourlife.

This book does not contain research,scientific studies or facts. Its just one college girls opinionsto another. Maybe youll find something in here that changes yourcollege career for the better. Maybe youll find something youdont agree with. Maybe youll find a really funny quote youlltweet to all your friends. Whatever happens, I hope you enjoy thebook.

So, now that you understand what this bookis about, lets begin.

Stacy Nadeau, DePaul University, Class of2007

Ill never forget sitting at my kitchentable on that fateful April night. It was the night before I had toturn in my college decision letter, and I was elbow deep in thetrusty pro/con list. I was great at creating a long list oflogicalpositives and negatives about eachplace.

I was choosing between two amazing schoolsin two large cities where Id be moving far from home, not knowinga single person in either place. My anxiety was through the roof.So many thoughts were going through my head:

This is a huge decision!

This will decide the course of my nextfour years and possibly my career.

The city I pick will probably be where Iget my first job, make new friends, and maybe meet my husband!Etc.

THE PRESSURE!

I agonized all night and hardly slept.

The next morning, Ihadto make a decision. I was becoming more and moreworked up when my mom turned to me and calmly said, Just go withyour gut.