It's crunch time, everyone. It's that time of year when everyone has one last shot to prove themselves. That last obstacle before everyone is set free to enjoy the summer break.
It's hard to believe that it was just five years ago I moved all the way from Bean Town, leaving behind my family, friends and beloved Bo-Sox for Tucson and 100-degree heat, Saguaro cactuses and Gila monsters. I remember strolling onto the UA campus as a young, naive freshman eager to start my college career, completely unprepared for what lay ahead of me.
Now it's all coming to an end as I get ready to graduate - finally - and move on, prepared for what next year has to offer. I, like so many other Wildcats, am saying goodbye to the place I have called home for so long.
But like so many before it, this chapter must come to an end.
So much has happened over these five wonderful years I have been a student here, and it all seems like it just happened yesterday.
My first football game, East Coast Super Subs, Residence Hall Association meetings, 50 cent beers at Golden Pin Lanes, being an ASUA senator, that damn hole that became the Integrated Learning Center, more parking tickets than I can count, pulling all-nighters to finish papers or to just hang out, and so much more. Everything that has made up my college career seems to blend together, and I realize how much has happened and how long it really has been.
Whether you're graduating or finishing your first year, we can all agree that college goes by fast - too fast, sometimes. It seems like just last week I was walking down the halls of Hopi Lodge on my way to my first atmospheric science class, not writing columns about how our student government screwed up ... again.
Of course, there are many students who are looking forward to coming back, as they still have time to take advantage of their college experience and enjoy it.
Today marks a special day for a few of those students. It is the day they are sworn in as our new ASUA officers. Today, we welcome them in and say good luck. At the same time, those students who have worked so hard this year as our student leaders have the word "former" penciled in before whatever title they may have had.
As all these student leaders say goodbye, I must also bid my farewell to everyone today. I now become a former Wildcat columnist; much to the delight of the new officers, I am sure.
To those old officers who have come to expect, and sometimes dread, my commentary on a weekly basis, I have enjoyed keeping you on your toes this year by being the dissenting voice that is often forgotten but very important for leaders to have.
But now I, like so many other proud wildcats, am graduating to the "real world" and "real job" that my parents have been talking about for so long. This is it; I have no more excuses. I have to leave this neverland we call college, which we all like so much until it is ripped away when we are handed our bachelor's degrees.
Please make the most of it while you still can!
If there is one thing left for me to say as I ride off into the sunset, it is to go do something! Anything to make the most of your college career and enjoy this great campus, whether it be running for student government, joining a club, playing intramurals, goofing off in Wilbur's Underground or anything else that you can only really do while you're in college. As tempting as it may be to just sit on the couch watching reality TV and get wasted every weekend, there is so much more. Remember that this is the greatest time of your life: college.
Jason Poreda is a political science and communication senior. He can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.