Welcome to the best four years of your life. Within the next few weeks, you will receive numerous free T-shirts, credit card offers and maybe even go to your first college party.So here's a little to-do...

The transition from high school to college can be tough, but current TCU students say hearing advice from older peers is helpful.

Karina Mercer, a sophomore accounting and finance major, said its important to balance studying and friends.

"When you study nonstop, you will burn yourself out," she said. "Make sure you find time to enjoy life and treasure the friendships you will make. Find a balance between school and fun and you will be much happier."

Click. Click. Click.

The sound of students typing their papers breaks the silence of one of the study lounges in Samuelson residence hall.

"Ballin!"

First-year students cheer as their friends challenge each other to a game of pool or foosball in the second-floor lounge of Milton Daniel Hall.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

A group of first-year women excitedly walk down the hallway of Colby Hall in their high heels on their way to a formal.

For new freshmen, the excitement of living on their own for the first time can go hand-in-hand with the anxiety that comes with any major life change.

Monica Kintigh, staff counselor at the Counseling, Testing and Mental Health Center, said it is not uncommon for freshmen to come by the center during their first semester for help with dealing with their anxieties.

Trevor Hoffman, Padres closer and all-time save leader, enters the ninth inning to "Hell's Bells" by ACDC. Yankee great Mariano Rivera walks to the mound to "Enter Sandman" by Metallica. What song does junior closer Andrew Cashner intimidate opposing batters with? "Guitar Town" by Steve Earle - a song that describes his personality more than his sizzling upper '90s fastball or knee-buckling slider.

Cashner had a simple answer for his peculiar song choice as he spoke between spits into a cup from a front lip full of chewing tobacco.

When students need help landing a job, building a resume or finding other career advice, many turn to the University Career Services office, especially to Mary Kathleen Baldwin.

Baldwin, a TCU alumna, is the assistant director of marketing and events for Career Services, but does so much more, said her coworker Darin Ford, an associate director of Career Services.

  While the completion of the Brown-Lupton University Union is delayed, Clark and Jarvis halls are on schedule and there are new projects in the works, an administrator said.   Don Mills,...

There are over 40 Christian traditions and denominations on campus, yet there are also students who practice other faiths; so how can these students maintain their faith?

Adam Gamwell, program coordinator for the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and staff adviser to TCU's Interfaith Council and Community, said there are several resources available to students through the office.

Students graduating in May will find fewer options to pay off loans, a financial aid officer said.

Loan debts will be more difficult to pay off for some students than it has been in the past because of the current credit crunch in the student loan market, said Melet Leafgreen, assistant director of scholarships and financial aid.

Although loan consolidation has been a popular option to pay off loans in the past, it will more than likely be a struggle for students this year, Leafgreen said.