I like breaking rules. In nine semesters at Penn State (undergrad and graduate combined), I've broken all the unwritten rules of college.

I've never gone out on a weekend prowling for a hookup.

I've never smoked a cigarette.

I didn't drink until I turned 21, and even so, I've never thrown up from being too trashed.

I don't have any nights that I can't remember.

I only blacked out twice in my college career: once due to lack of sleep while dancing in Thon, and once due to anesthetics while having my wisdom teeth removed.

In just over a week, I'll walk across a stage in a silly gown and tassel and start my life in the "real world."

Under the pervasive mindset of the unwritten rules of college, I've had a terrible university experience.

No random hookups? No hugging toilets? No walk of shame? I've thrown away my youth!

But I don't see it that way. I've had a fulfilling college career. I appreciate that I never had to hide my weekend plans from my parents.

Years from now, I will be able to tell my children about college without leaving out large chunks of the story.

I will be able to look back on my years at Penn State and smile, without regrets.

I don't want you to think I sat in my room all the time, though. I made appearances at plenty of parties.

Again, I didn't drink alcohol at them until I was 21, but even after that, I refused to drink something I didn't like.

Some people wondered why I'd even go out.

Well, as I tell my friends, I have an inordinate desire to shake my tail feather. Parties are where the dancing is.

Also, I can't count all the times my being a sober friend helped someone else who had made bad choices.

I've danced friends away from unwanted drunken advances, and, in more serious cases, driven people to the hospital who had suspected alcohol poisoning. I've been a shoulder as people walked home.

I feel better having been there for those who needed me, and I don't regret not going buck-wild on those nights.

I am thankful for my true friends at Penn State, who accepted my decisions to live my life by my own standards. Once people realized I wasn't going to get trashed, no matter what they said, they respected my decision and didn't ostracize me.

However, I have consistently been amazed by the number of people who thought I was missing out on something because I refused to play by the unwritten rules of college culture.

I don't go around preaching to those who abide by the rules.

I will, however, cut off a friend who's had too much to drink, or tell you that cigarettes destroy your lungs, or advise someone not to go home with a stranger. Make your own decisions, whatever they are.

And respect the decisions of your fellow students.

But there's one thing about the so-called college culture that I can't figure out.

If you find yourself shot-gunning cheap beer because it tastes horrible and you want to drink it quickly, why are you drinking cheap beer in the first place?

If you have to be drunk to enjoy yourself at a party, is that party really where you want to be?

This is a shout-out to all my goody-goodies out there.

Stick to your guns.

Don't change because the masses pressure you to.

Keep breaking those unwritten rules.