As State College floods with proud parents the weekend of May 15 to 17, 10,875 seniors will prepare to leave Happy Valley for good, eliciting mixed feelings for some.

As graduation draws near, seniors reminisced on the past four years, reflecting on memories and what they will miss most.

Eric Seemiller (senior-biological anthropology) is planning to attend graduate school at Kentucky State University but said he will stay in State College to work this summer.

"I'm excited," he said about graduating. "I think I've exhausted State College for all it's worth and I'm ready to move on to new things."

The one thing Seemiller will miss the most about Penn State is football, he said.

"I'm going to a place where everybody is an Ohio State fan, which I think is going to suck," he said, laughing.

Cory Merryman (senior- public relations) has an internship this summer to give her more time to find a job, she said, adding graduation will be bittersweet.

"I'm very overwhelmed," she said, adding she was initially excited to graduate. Now, though, she feels more melancholy, anxious and stressed, she said.

"I still can't understand it that I'm graduating and I'm becoming a real person in the real world," she said.

A lot of history can happen in four years, and seniors have a great deal to remember.

The 2005 football season included a trip to the Orange Bowl and Penn State's football comeback.

In 2007, long-time Penn State women's basketball head coach Rene Portland resigned after being accused of discrimination. Also in 2007 during the Blue-White game, the senior section ditched its usual "S" for a "VT" to honor those killed at Virginia Tech that year.

The 2008 riot in Beaver Canyon after a football victory over Ohio State may be remembered for pepper spray and uprooted lampposts.

Seemiller, who was involved in campaigning for President Barack Obama, added "it was nice to see such a historic election" during his time at Penn State.

Keynote speakers for graduation festivities range from alumni to authors to CEOs.

Jessica Weiner, Class of 1995, an author and expert in self-esteem, is the speaker for the College of Arts and Architecture.

Eric W. Rabe, senior vice president of media relations for Verizon, will be speaking at graduation for the College of Communications.

At the College of Agriculture's graduation, Robert Steele, the dean of the college, will speak, as he steps down from that position to return as a professor in the Department of Food Science.

Friends and family hoping to witness the events may want to make plans for lodging now.

The Nittany Lion Inn has been booked since early fall, an Inn official said, and other lodging locations in the area are filling up as graduation day approaches.

The Days Inn still has some availability, but officials said they expect rooms to fill up, as they do most years around graduation time.

The Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau is one place parents can call or view online to see where rooms are available in the area. As of Monday -- the last time the Web site was updated -- rooms were still available in a few places in State College, and more were available outside the area, Executive Director Betsy Howell said.

"It will be like most graduations: it will be busy," she said.

Parents and other visitors not being accommodated by local hotels are being offered on-campus housing for the weekend, said Jessica Snyder, staff assistant for Penn State Conference Services.

Snyder said some parents have already booked on-campus housing.

"The numbers aren't as high as last year," she said, "but they are still significant."