Beat that Mizzou 22 at the Mizzou Student Rec Center!

When the cold of winter comes and finals approach, things can get dreary and stressful. So take a break and have hot chocolate, decorate the floor for Christmas, and make it feel more like home.

When you've got two big tests in one day, don't be afraid to camp out in the lounge with some friends and study all night. No need to move for hours at a time!

The Key to Success Lies on Your Floor

Move-in day. Best summed up as "overwhelming, stressful and terrifyingly exciting". People, boxes, clothes, TVs, computers, parents, siblings - there isn't a spare second to breathe, much less process what exactly is happening to you, the student, the whole reason this day is taking place. After a few hours of countless trips up and down the stairs and elevators, with carts and carts of your belongings - your life, really - it is finally time for the highly anticipated, yet somewhat scary, final farewells. The cars disappear, the tears fade, the dust settles. And here you are. A college freshman: free from curfews, siblings, parents, nagging, high school. You're on your own. Yippee!

But then it actually hits you: you're on your own. In a new place, with new people, a new schedule. All the comforts and familiarity of home are gone and its back to the starting block.

That first day can be very exciting, but also very stressful, very overwhelming, and, very lonely. When you graduated from high school, you most likely felt closer to your friends than you thought anyone else had ever felt - that no one else in the history of the world had ever loved that deeply, or felt so fiercely for their friends. And suddenly those bonds have been thrown to the wind. Your friends and you are scattered across the country, unable to be together all the time like before. And, suddenly, you're here in this new place, desperate to find those same types of bonds again. But where to look? There's 30,000 people here! you say. I'll ever find my place.

False.

Living in the dorms is an integral part of the college experience – do not take these people that you have been thrown together with for granted. They will become your meal companions, study partners, and most importantly, best friends. Banding together as a floor will not only keep you company, but it will cause everyone to be more successful, academically and socially. Our floor has been the glue that has held us together this semester. From all-night study sessions to Christmas parties to hot tub nights at Tiger Grotto, we have become closer than any of us ever anticipated. Reach out to your floor. Plan events for everyone. Watch TV together. Study together. Eat meals together. Your floor is who you live with, and because of that they become your family. Everyone has a place, everyone contributes in some unique way. Embrace your floor, because they will be your key to success in every endeavor, every ambition, and every goal.