Time it was and what a time it was/it was a time of innocence/a time of confidences/long ago it must be/I have a photograph/preserve your memories/they're all that's left you.

Five years, 11 semesters, 156 weeks of class, many changes in both my major and my minor, at least 30 all-nighters, hundreds of drinks, countless numbers of skipped classes, enough friends to last a lifetime . . . as fast as it seemed to go, looking back, it's surprising just how much happened.

Sure, there's going to be many things about this place that I'm not going to miss — it's going to be nice to park my car somewhere without having to worry about five parking pigs swarming to feast the second the meter runs out — but the good memories definitely outweigh the bad.

And I learned quite a bit, inside and outside of the classroom. So, rather than making this a mushy goodbye letter to my friends and my youth, I've decided to help y'all out.

Here are some tips on how to make the best of your college experience from a seasoned veteran:

Meet people different from you.

As cliched as it is, I can't stress this enough. Although students tend to hang with their own, you're missing out on so much if you don't at least attempt communication with someone who isn't like you. One of my closer friends from Penn State was a guy from overseas named Bilal. We spent a lot of time together during my junior year, and I learned a lot about him and a lot about myself from our conversations. Unfortunately, he was killed in the earthquakes that hit Turkey during the summer of 1999.

But he still taught me more in the nine months that I knew him than most people could teach me in a lifetime.

Don't freak out in a bad situation. Something good will come out of it.

Just like a whole bunch of you, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I came here. Well, actually I did. I wanted to be a rock star — I still do. But I wanted a back-up plan that would prevent me from entering financial dire straits once the bills started to roll in six months after graduation.

Unfortunately, four semesters passed and I had yet to decide on something. That prompted this lovely university to send a letter saying, more or less, pick a major by the 10th day of the next semester or we'll kick you out.

I panicked and was considering taking a semester off to think about things, but I gained composure, narrowed down my choices and finally picked journalism. Since then, I've spent three very enjoyable years on the Collegian staff, and I have an internship at The Philadelphia Inquirer this summer.

Not bad for a quick choice.

Paying your way through school actually has its benefits.

I know this sounds ridiculous, but college is the perfect place to learn how to handle money properly. My family isn't rich, but we're far from poor. Plus, my parents thought it would be beneficial for their kids to pay for everything in college except food (with a little help from Uncle Sam along the way). Surprisingly, it was much easier than I expected. I had to get a job up here, but I ended up working at the same place all five years and made many good friends in the process. Although I still have a nice sum to pay back after graduation, I never had any serious economic troubles while I was a student.

And the best thing — when I walk across that stage to get my diploma, I can say "Yes, I did this." And because of it, my parents never bought that awful bumper sticker that says, "My kid and my money go to Penn State."

Get in shape.

When I came here, my ass was really skinny. Actually it was my body that was skinny — my ass was non-existent. My freshman weight was 135. I will graduate at around 180. And almost all of it is good weight. I even have an ass now.

Just because many students' college experiences consist of beer, late night pizza and a lot of hanging around, it doesn't mean that it's impossible to develop a respectable physique. You have a lot of free time your freshman year. Use it wisely and start to develop habits that will carry over into your busier upperclassman years. The "Freshman 15" doesn't have to be bad weight.

And that's about it from here. All of you underclassmen are very lucky you still have as much time left as you do. Use it wisely. You'll never know where it went and how it left so quickly.

Oh, and one more thing. All of you reading this who are depressed about your lack of success with the opposite sex, stop trying so hard. That special gem might be right in front of your face. Take my word for it.

Thank you to everyone who made me who I am today. You know who you are. I love all of you.

Though I know I'll never lose affection/for people and things that went before/I know I'll often stop and think about them . . .