Sometimes everybody needs a wake-up call.

I'm not talking about the literal kind, which comes in handy when you start shutting your alarm off near the end of the semester. Not that I know anything about that.

I'm referring to the figurative kind, which can come just as suddenly and be just as unwelcome as that ringing telephone after only a few hours of much-needed sleep.

In both cases, you want to block out the distraction and return to your own comfortable world, but you can't ignore the noise.

I guess you could say I've had a really loud year, full of personal and academic challenges. And with the real world just a few days away, the volume is steadily increasing.

All this "noise" has taught me a valuable lesson, which is best reflected in an e-mail I received a few years ago. Based on a Nike ad, it reads: "Life is not about keeping score. It's about seeing people for who they are. Most of all, it's about choosing to use your life to touch someone else's in a way that could never have been achieved otherwise."

My last year of college showed me that life is too short to get caught up in the daily routine, or in what happens when it seems like that routine is turned upside down. That's when it's time to wake up and appreciate the people who make it all much more bearable.

Sometimes, we bend ourselves around a perceived ideal of what we think our lives should be like. Whenever things don't go according to plan, we tend to get frustrated and lose sight of the importance of the family and friends who are there no matter what.

For me, when I was stressed, sick or just not feeling like myself, these were the people who were there with smiles, tea and U2's All That You Can't Leave Behind — regardless of the finer points of my GPA or just how often I could get to the bars that week.

Granted, these things are important to a certain extent. But you will value the memories of the people you care about so much more.

Often, we don't realize the impact we can have on someone else until it's too late, and the routine has changed. During the next few weeks, familiar encounters with friends and acquaintances will be replaced by, well, goodbyes. Sappy but true: You never know what's ahead, so don't be afraid to build the kind of relationships that will last no matter where fate takes you.

Soon, I will no longer be living with my best friend of 13 years, who has taught me so much about the strength of friendship and the value of acting like a kid again. My closest friends, one from as far back as the second grade playground, won't be right around the corner. And after Thursday night, I won't be greeted each day with the comforting familiarity of my "Collegian friends," three of whom started here with me four years ago.

Beth, Cheryl and Tim, along with Fassnacht, Angela, Rushton, Brooke and Jilly, are, simply put, the best of my time at the Collegian. They kept me grounded when I needed them most. I am a better person for knowing not only these people, but also the Shop guys and all the night deskers. They kept me upbeat, entertained and awake while editors like Stacey and Tricia encouraged me.

Just by being themselves, my friends and family have taught me more than I thought possible. This has been a year of hard lessons, but I was blessed enough to have people I could count on to help me through it.

The inevitable tradeoff, I've learned and relearned, is that just as seeing people for who they are can be incredibly rewarding, it can also be incredibly painful. But don't "keep score" or let disappointments stop you. Instead, forgive, forget and turn the page. You'll be better off.

When times were tough, my best teachers, who were right about more than I ever imagined, were always there. They're my parents, and they showed me that nothing is as bad as it seems as long as people care about you.

Let them. Just knowing that they are there for you is the most gratifying wake-up call you could receive.

These are the people who will keep inspiring you, even after you say goodbye.