I'm surprised that nobody suggested guava solution yet:
com.google.common.collect.Iterables.get(collection, 0)
// or
com.google.common.collect.Iterables.get(collection, 0, defaultValue)
// or
com.google.common.collect.Iterables.getFirst(collection, defaultValue)
or if you expect single element:
com.google.common.collect.Iterables.getOnlyElement(collection, defaultValue)
// or
com.google.common.collect.Iterables.getOnlyElement(collection)