For hopefully the last time in my college career and for the benefit of the Penn State student body, I am going to definitively answer this question: How was your break?

"It was good. I slept - a lot. Then I ate - a lot. I stayed up late, slept in late and took on the official occupation of couch potato."

I'm willing to go out on a limb and guess many of you did the same.

But after three weeks of rest and relaxation, life's gone back to normal.

I'm procrastinating on scheduling that adviser appointment, I've got bags filled with more stuff than I could ever use scattered across my bedroom floor, and I'm holed up in the basement of the James Building.

My mind is actively fighting the symptoms of senioritis almost as fiercely as my body will fight the inevitable flu bug I'll catch later this week.

I've got 15 weeks left at Penn State, and I'm trying to savor every second.

That's right, I'm savoring every second of this sleepless, stressful, overwhelming life that's become second nature to me over the past three and a half years.

In only 15 weeks, my life as I know it will never be the same.

I'll go from student to professional, editor in chief to reporter and kid in transition to full-fledged adult.

That's a scary thought, but there's at least one thing that won't change.

(Warning: Corny sentiment ahead.)

I'll still belong to the Collegian.

I might not be here every day, or every year for that matter, but I'll never leave this newspaper behind.

I'm taking it with me, just like so many before me have done.

Alums show up all the time, searching for a familiar face or maybe just the couch in the corner on which they spent so much time working hard and hardly working.

Some come back so often we forget they've actually graduated and don't technically work here anymore. At least six have stopped by since Saturday, and we haven't even published until today.

All this schmaltziness has a point, which I'll get to now.

If you're a freshman, sophomore or even a junior who's stayed in the background the past year or two, kept your name off the list-servs and membership lists and focused all of your time and energy on academic pursuits and partying, I strongly urge you to get involved in all that's offered at this university and town.

There's a heck of a lot to do, and I don't think anyone should leave Penn State having only worried about the dean's list.

So much more is here; you simply have to take advantage of it.

The Collegian was it for me, and maybe this newspaper is it for you too.

If you want to find out, come to the James Building, 123 S. Burrowes St., and take a chance at becoming a reporter.

Tryouts are scheduled for Jan. 22 at 3 and 6 p.m., Jan. 23 at 3 and 6 p.m. and Jan. 24 at 3 p.m.

Please remember to bring a blue book and pen.

I don't know where I'll be in six months, but I know I'll be in the Collegian's newsroom when I have my first weekend off.

Where will you visit when you're an alum?