Although this is my sixth semester at Eastern, sitting on the sidelines as I watch all of my older (it is still up for debate if they are in fact wiser) friends graduate has not gotten any easier. Not in the slightest.

These are the people that took me under their wings and showed me the ropes to making it through all aspects in college, from the classroom to the Charleston streets.

These are the people that made the pit of nervousness settling itself into the bottom of my stomach into butterflies full of excitement as I encountered every unfamiliarity and turned it into an opportunity. You know who you are, and I hope you know that the impressions you have left on me, and the memories you have made with me, will never fade.

With every semester that I have witnessed friends graduate and move out, it has set in much deeper that it will be my turn one day. Except this time around, this realization has welcomed more nostalgia because I will be in their same position this time next year.

There never really seems to be enough time. Especially college time.

There is no point in our life where we will experience anything quite like college time, which I define several ways:

1. A comfortable bubble of 4 or more years where we are mostly surrounded by people trying to accomplish the same things as us: pass, party, and not piss off our parents too much.
2. A dance between certainty and uncertainty prompted by decisions involving what majors to choose, what classes to take, which assignment or test to prioritize over the other, what organizations to join, what people to surround yourself with, which low quality pizza place to settle for, etc.
3. A stage in our lives where we are not expected to be adults yet, but we are not treated like children; our mistakes can be pulled off as lessons to learn, our friends are only a short walk down the hall, and our youth makes us feel invincible.

If you’re reading this and you’re a freshman, consider yourself lucky. You are told this time and time again, but this time will fly by and you will not be able to get it back. This freedom does not come often and does not last long. Spend as much of this time you have with the friends you have made here and making as many mistakes as you can before the real world starts expecting things from you.

If you’re reading this and you’re in the same situation as me, we have one more year of college time to spend and we better spend it wisely. Keep surrounding yourself with people who make the scared and nervous freshman you were when you got here feel like a stranger. Tie up all the loose ends you still find yourself with during your last year in your own way and your own way only.

If you’re reading this and you’re a senior, congratulations. I hope you can look back at how you spent your college time without feeling like you needed any more than what you were already given.

And if you’re a sophomore, you’re the middle child when it comes to these kinds of sappy things: forgotten. Enjoy your time coasting through the halfway point before reality hits.

Carole Hodorowicz is a junior journalism major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or at cdhodorowicz@eiu.edu.