People say that college is the most fun time of your life. Though I hope that is not the case for me, my four years at WSU have been the best and most enlightening part of the journey so far.

Our parents and teachers prodded and prepared us to go to college for the sake of securing a steady future. As much as an education and degree can do for you in the real world, I believe the self-discovery is the most valuable asset of higher education. When we are set free from the constant influence of our parents and familiar environment, we find out who we are and where we stand in the world.

My four years have helped me realize what things are important to my happiness, where I want to take the skills I have gained as a writer and who I want to share my life with. My time at WSU taught me many useful skills and knowledge (how to craft an article, drinking games, the rock cycle, etc.), but it is the knowledge of who I am that I am most grateful for.

My advice for people coming to WSU, or any university for that matter, really comes down to two key points.

Number one is to do your best at your classes and to invest time into your academics. That may sound like a lame piece of advice, but it’s also pretty lame to drop out of college because the only thing you got good at was figuring out how to ride the line between getting mildly plastered and blacking out.

Number two is to let loose. This doesn’t mean going on drinking binges or getting too stoned to walk every night. It simply means that you’re a young college student and you should be able to act as such. So ask the person you just met to go on a date, go on that hike people talk about, and go to the party and get reasonably inebriated if you’re into that. Just remember the manners your parents taught you.

All in all, what I’m saying is that your time at college is exactly what you make it. Take chances, learn from where you screwed up and figure out who you are. If you haven’t figured that out in four years, take out a loan for graduate school and keep trying.