It's funny how life works. When you expect something to happen and it doesn't, other things always seem to fill the void.

Take the 2003 and 2004 football seasons for example. I've bled blue and white since the day I was born.

While the Nittany Lions struggled in the 2000 and 2001 seasons, I thought for sure that the football gods somewhere would allow me to have the best four seasons of Penn State football ever known to man.

So I had high hopes following my freshman year of a 9-4 season and Capital One Bowl appearance. I told myself then that I would go to a bowl game before I graduated.

And I did, but I wouldn't have figured it was come in my senior year. The Orange Bowl was an amazing experience, (so I've been told by my sister and roommate who accompanied me). But without those down years, I wouldn't have been able to appreciate this past season.

Many of my favorite memories have been sports related at Penn State. I always hear it from my friends when I don't rank the Ohio State game as my favorite game at Penn State, but, to be honest, I'm partial to the Nebraska night game my freshman year.

During those down years of football, many different things happened on this campus that were worthwhile.

Sophomore year covering men's cross country, I got to ride along with head coach Harry Groves during the meet. If you ever have the chance to meet this man, do it. It will make your day.

If you aren't a night person, then be glad you aren't a journalist. Penn State has another hockey team on campus, the ACHA Division II Ice Lions. I had the privilege of covering them, too. Too bad they practiced at the Ice Rink at 11:30 p.m. and played games at 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. But its worth it to see a hockey fight or to see a coach become speechless after a 16-0 victory.

And who can ever forget night desk at this paper. Do me a favor, please read the page in the sports section with the nice photo and all the standings and box scores. It is the biggest pain to do, especially at 8 or 9 p.m. It was the bane of my existence for an entire semester. But the entire experience was valuable nonetheless.

I got the chance to see the women's gymnastics team make a run to the NCAA championships. I also learned about a sport that I previously knew nothing about.

That same year, the women's lacrosse team also went to the NCAA championships. They had an up-and-down season, but they beat many No. 1 ranked teams last season.

And finally this year, the football gods made amends to me. They gave me a great year and what I was expecting to see 22 years ago when I enrolled at Penn State for life. I could have said that I enjoyed only two years of college, but I can honestly say that these were the best four years of my life.

If anything should be taken from this column, it is that make sure that you don't take anything for granted in college or life. There are so many things here that will enhance a college experience, whether it's sports or another organization.

Do well in school, but don't make that the only thing you take from Penn State, there is so much more.