For many students, going away to college for the first time means living on their own and making their own decisions for the first time. It's a challenging time.

Darren Harrington, 19, a sophomore at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, says he is striving to make the right decisions at college.

Harrington says classes should come first. He urges incoming freshmen to "try to manage your time wisely and put your lessons before social activities."

Harrington's mom, Tonya Allison, gave him similar words of wisdom before he left home last year.

"I was excited and sad at the same time that he was going off to college, because he is my only child," says Allison, a postal service supervisor in Milton, Fla. "But I talked to him about everything. I told him it was his first time going away from home with a lot of free time on his hands, but I sent him there to be an engineer, and not to party."

Still, Allison, 42, says she made some mistakes as a parent, too.

"I called him all the time, because I was so nervous all the time," she says.

Now she has a few words of advice for other parents: "Don't be a helicopter parent, hovering all the time. Just let your children know that you need to hear from them periodically."

Another bit of advice Harrington offers: Live on campus.

Harrington, who lives in the dorm, says that means you don't have to worry about parking, getting to class on time, or preparing meals. "Everything is right on campus — the library, cafeteria," Harrington says. "The only downside is that when the cafeteria is closed on the weekend, you have to order food."

Lusharon Wiley, associate dean of students at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, says some students simply don't understand the differences between college and high school.

"If they skip classes, no one will be there to tell them to go class," Wiley says. "Those decisions will be their own."

Wiley says students who get involved in campus activities or seek advice from a mentor are "more likely to be successful."

Getting involved will help students feel like they are part of campus life, and could keep homesickness at bay.

As he makes plans to send his 18-year-old daughter, Lianne, off to his alma mater, Oakwood University in Huntsville, Ala., Kevin Maupin has mixed feelings. But he's confident his daughter will heed his advice to "study hard and make good grades."

If she happens to have a bump in the road, Maupin, a pulmonary pediatrician in Pensacola, says it will be a part of her learning experience and growing up.