Like a Pro: Books, beer cans and everything in between

UNH, it’s been a wild ride. Four years jam-packed with all-nighters, cram sessions, essays galore and, of course, weekend parties. It’s been three years of me writing these columns every Sunday night or Monday morning. According to my count, this right here is my 76^th, and final, “Like a Pro” column. Oh, and by the way I don’t call them “Like a Pro” because I’m full of myself; it’s an inside joke and maybe we’ll get to that explanation later on (cough hint hint cough).

My fellow 2012 classmates, thank you for everything. I am proud to call you my classmates, and even a few of you my friends. We will all do great things in the future and like our commencement speaker will probably say, “It’s our turn to go out in the world and make a positive difference.” It might be very cliché, but it is also very true.

I have made many great friends over the past four years and it is sad that our time here has come to an end. I am very appreciative of my education, but my new friends and the memories we’ve shared together, from our first days in Williamson up through graduation, is what I will really cherish down the road.

To be fair, college has not been all great memories, fun times and drunken shenanigans. There will definitely be a handful of things I will never miss. Scantron exams. Those stupid little bubbles just staring back at you almost like they know you skipped the last two weeks of classes because it is just a useless general education course. 

Blue books. I’ve filled out page after page of Blue Books for the last four years, and after my last final next week, I will never have to write in one again. Thinking about being done with Blue Books makes graduation slightly better. 

Essays. These are even worse than Blue Books because you actually have to put more than an hour or so into this form of BS. I’m actually multi-tasking this column and my last college essay ever, and it is rather bittersweet. Bitter because I have enjoyed writing a few papers, and sweet because I’ve despised writing way more than those few I actually enjoyed. And it’s my last one. Unless I end up in grad school. Crap. 

Living with other college students. Don’t get me wrong, I love my roommates. They’re my best friends and we have had tons of great memories. But college students are dirty, messy, smelly, and they may or may not have on the same pair of underwear for the fourth straight day. This is totally acceptable for most kids during college. Not having to put up with smelly, drunk people (including myself) might be nice.

Okay, so there are only a small handful of things I will actually miss about college, and that last one doesn’t really count. All of the best moments, my greatest memories and fun times far outweigh all of the exams, essays and dirty dishes. 

Personally, college has been an amazing experience. Reality has set in and I’m ready for the next chapter of my life. Or I could apply to graduate school, but I really like the idea of being done with schoolwork forever. Victories from in the classroom to the Beirut table and everything in between will be some of my greatest college memories. Over four years ago I was applying to college, and hopefully, four years from now, I’ll look back and feel just as accomplished as I do now. Something about this paragraph seems "telling." Try figuring it out and maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised (cough another hint here...)

One more thing to you all: Thank you. Thank you all for reading my rants and ramblings. This column and my blog have allowed my college experience to be so much more than just books and beer cans. Without readers, whether you love or hate my work, you all made this possible for me. I’d like to think that my writing impacted a few people, maybe even made a difference on this campus, but if it didn’t, at least I know that it definitely helped me along the way.

Good luck out there my fellow graduates. Cheers to you all. To the non-graduates here, keep doing your thing and keep UNH awesome. And lastly, one final time, say it with me: 

Stay classy, not UMassy.