Guest Column

It's all about happiness. People ask me, "What are you going to do after college?" I reply that I am going to do what makes me happy. I urge everyone to do what they want, and there is no better time to find out what that is than right after college—I hope.

UNH intramurals are serious business. In my years as an intramural fanatic, I dunked over freshman, checked people excessively hard during broomball and was even ejected from my sophomore basketball season. Then again, who wasn't?

The glory days. College is a time to discover who you are as a person. By going to hockey games, concerts, parties, London and sometimes even class, I learned a lot about myself—perhaps too much. I have one regret, which is that I didn't go all out from day one. Lord Byron said, "The days of our youth are the days of our glory." Make them memorable.

Midterm's Law. The number of people working out at the Whittemore Center is inversely proportional to the amount of homework assigned at a given point in the semester. Take a look in the gym. See those empty treadmills? It must be an exam week.

The Party Phenomenon. If you have a test in the morning, your neighbors are virtually guaranteed to have a party the night before.

Homework isn't a four-letter word. UNH has taught me the value of a real work ethic. The shock of many hours of homework every night my freshman year was tough to take at first. But it got easier and now I can honestly say that I manage my time better and appreciate the feeling of completing an assignment.

The value of money management. I am now capable of surviving with $5 to my name, and I budget my money accordingly: $3 for books, $1 for a piece of fruit and $1 for gas. And I've discovered that holding three jobs at once is a normal, respectable college thing.

The fine art of falling asleep anywhere. Whether it's in my own bed, on my keyboard, in the library, the MUB, on the shuttle or even in the classroom, falling asleep has never been so easy.

Life does not require a master plan. I can't tell you what I will be doing tomorrow or where I'll be, and I'm over it. Having no clue can be exciting. Who knows where the wind will take you? I still can't believe I'm graduating, but I know I will survive.

Listen to the voice inside your head. It never fails: You felt sure that the answer to question 12 was B, but now D is looking more and more tempting. So you switch, and sure enough, B was right. What goes for multiple-choice usually goes for bigger decisions, too: You have to go with your gut feeling.

There's no life like dorm life. So the hallway always smells like burnt popcorn, but never again will you live surrounded by people who leave their doors open and are happy to listen to you complain about your Spanish exam while you brush your teeth.

Independence is beautiful. I remember how I felt as my parents left my first day of freshman year—that twitch of panic that said, "I'm not sure I can do this!" Four years, three roommates, two majors and three months of study abroad later, I know I can. If nothing else, college teaches you how to figure things out for yourself—even if you have to ask for help along the way.