“A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.” - Paulo Coelho

But just what can a child teach a college-age young adult?

Quite a bit, as it turns out.

Over the last few weeks we had the opportunity to interview a group of children (from ages 4 to 8) to see what they thought college and college life would be like. The responses we received were tremendous - a mixture of cute, thoughtful, amusing, and serious.  The quotes from these elementary school students are valuable tidbits of advice and insight on a college education, young adulthood, and life itself.

As students been on college campuses for a few weeks now, we figured now was a good time – to learn, to laugh, and to remember to live.

“What do you think college will be like?

“I will have to work a lot. I will learn how to grow.” Lincoln, 4

“I will learn words and learn how to read. “ Henry, 5

“I will learn how to build a house. “ Mason, 5

“What do you think you will do in college?”

“I’m going to be a grown up in college. I’m going to go out to lunch a lot.  I’m going to be a mommy.” Adeline, 4

“I’m going to read, be helpful and be polite. I think they might have pools in college, so I can swim.  College is where the (Kansas) Jayhawks live. “ Max, 5

“I might learn about animals.” Ruby, 5

"I will act on a stage." Madeline, 7

"I might get permanent tattoos." Zapoleon, 6

"You learn to be what you want to be when you grow up." Jordan, 8

"You figure out your career." Izabelle, 8

"You work on a computer and look up stuff." Kannon, 6

“I am going to play football when I’m in college. I think I might learn how to fish. I will learn about math and time. I also might graduate." Robby, 5

"What is college?"

"College is where you get ready to be a grown up.” Isabel, 7

"It's about learning." Wade, 7

"Where you learn stuff. And then learn so you get a job." Amelia, 8

"Sometimes you work on a computer." Griffin, 6

"A place you feel at home." Brooksley, 7

What will you learn about?

"Science!" TJ, 8

"How to be a veterinarian." Amelia, 8

"Division and times tables." Annie, 8

"How to make friends." Zapoleon, 6

"We will learn about The Statue of Liberty." Jessica, 6

"Learn what you need to know for tests." Izabelle, 8

"Robotics and decorating!" Isabel, 7

It was one year ago that we released the first edition of the #CollegeFreshmanAdvice blog, complete with brilliant advice from business professionals, athletes and coaches, writers, teachers and yes, even other college students - each of whom had already 'been there done that' and had something worth sharing.  The ideas and advice provided proved to be tremendously valuable, as throngs of students nationwide messaged, tweeted, or emailed me to state just how much they appreciated the words of wisdom.  Sure, they'd heard it all before (or at least thought they did), but seeing it posted on our site in easy to digest snippets of knowledge (thanks Twitter!) gave them insight, a sense of excitement, and even a feeling of self-assurance going into their new school and new surroundings.  With all of the successes that the first post had, we just knew... we had to do a second edition!

Take it from those that have been there - going off to college is equal parts frightening and awesome.  Take a deep breath and know this... when the dust settles, the stress wears off, and you begin to forge new comfort zones, that college can be (and will be) the best four years of your life. You will establish strong relationships, learn valuable lessons, and you will gain experiences that will serve you through the rest of your life. The first step though? Read the experiences and advice of others below (and in our first post here: First Edition ) and proceed with confidence - you got this!