Research indicates that higher education students with strong Emotional Intelligence skills achieve greater academic and extracurricular success, yet very few universities offer educational programs to develop, support, and sustain Emotional Intelligence (EI). The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of college students to understand how their EI skills impacted their student experience during their first year in college. The following research questions guided this proposed study focused on understanding how Emotional Intelligence impacts student success during the first year of college: (a) How do undergraduate students describe Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills (motivation, empathy, social skills, self-awareness, and self-control)? (b) In what ways do undergraduate students describe how their Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills impacted their academic experiences during their first year of college? (c) How do undergraduate students describe the influence that their Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills had on their engagement with student activities, leadership, and wellness programming during their first year of college? The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with six college students who were current undergraduate college students and who had completed their first year of college. Data revealed emerging themes portraying the lived experiences of this study's participants with the hope to better understand the connection of EI and first year college student success. The researcher offered recommendations for practice and future research based on these results. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]