Graduation

is this week. So, to all of the graduates, congratulations and good luck.

Here is some

advice for the college bound.

Buy some shower

shoes. They look like flip-flops and they will keep you from getting nasty

bacteria on your tootsies. There were some incidents with some unhygenic

people on my floor during my freshman year at college and shower shoes

became necessary.

Try to be clean

when it comes to food. You will undoubtedly have food in your dorm room

and you will almost certainly not eat it all every time. It is therefore

important that you dispose of it in a timely fashion, otherwise milk becomes

cheese and bread becomes the early stages of penicillin. Pizza boxes may

make a great end table, but if they still have cheese inside them it will

eventually turn.

Make an honest

attempt to manage your time wisely. You will stay up late on some occasions

and you will sleep late more than once, but it is important to not make

a habit of either. The key to this is naps. If you have longs breaks between

classes, nap. It will become your greatest ally in your quest to have

a fulfilling academic and social college career.

Meet new people.

There will be friends and acquaintances from high school with you at college

and you will hang out with them at the beginning, but familiarity breeds

contempt and eventually you will meet other people from other circles.

This is not saying that you should ditch high school mates or that you

can never remain friends with them, but don't choose them over new experiences.

You may regret it.

A year in the

dorms is probably enough. Use them to get adjusted to school and your

colleagues, but get out as soon as you can. You don't need dorm-sanctioned

events (or the people who attend them on a consistent basis) to have fun.

College is time to grow up and nothing says grown up more than sharing

rent and other bills with friends. This will most likely mean getting

a job, which, contrary to popular belief, is not such a bad thing.

Now, some random

bits of advice.

Party, but

never too often or too hard. You will break that rule, but you'll wish

you hadn't when you do.

Never go anywhere

alone at night and don't let others go anywhere alone at night either.

There are ways around it and people willing to help so that nobody gets

hurt.

Keep your books

in nice condition to sell them back at the end of the semester. Do the

same with your CDs, which can be sold for quick cash when you need it.

Be careful

of maxing out your credit card. It can be your best friend or your worst

enemy and, trust me, you'll want it to be your friend.

Study hard

and do well in school. It's not as hard as you think and good grades are

really their own reward, as is the money you will most certainly get from

relatives when you make dean's list.

And finally,

be true to your school. If you think your high school has school spirit,

wait until you get to college. If you like that sort of thing, it will

forever link you to everyone else who has ever attended the university.

(Go Dawgs!)

Have a safe

summer and a great time next year. I had a blast in college and you will

too.

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