Here is where I want to say something profound. Some- thing that will make you re-read my words and tell your friends. I have thought about my chance to write in the opinion section all year and after contemplating the ideas, I give you, the ever so cliché wisdom from a senior.

My time at Gustavus has been a full meal. Like every well-thought-out-P-ball-style- sit-down-dinner, I have enjoyed parts and picked around parts. To say that the whole thing was perfect would be a lie; to say that I don’t have regrets is also false. But to say that I wouldn’t change a thing is 100 percent true. Food- ies all over will tell you that a perfect meal has a mixture of things: sweet, sour, spicy, tangy, sharp, you get the picture. Alone they are overpowering or just not right, but mixed together they make something wonderful.

Appetizer. Like the best mo- ments in life, time really does fly by. Four years, in theory, seems like a long time. You get that senior itch when you’re a sophomore and you can’t wait to get out. Don’t wish for it to be over with, some of us seniors are quite jealous that you all get to come back, not for the home- work, but simply for the place. The over-used, “Gustavus has such a community” feel.

There have been some rough patches and there have been mo- ments of side splitting laughter. Learning what battles to fight what ones to walk away from, when to ignore your homework and when to buckle down and study. All of these tasks take time, and they each deserve some, let it happen and take some pictures of it.

First Course. There are so many opportunities to take advantage of here. Don’t find out too late. Explore and discover what resonates within you. Once you find that passion you will be 100 percent more productive and every day will be important.

There are incredible people doing incredible things here. Get out of your room and meet them. Working at The Weekly has given me the opportunity to talk to some of these wonderful people and it has been a blessing. We started this year with a senior Gustie of the Week and we end- ed with a first-year: a passing of the torch that in some way com- forts me. We are leaving, but it looks like there are some good hands to pick it right back up.

Dessert. It takes hard work. Don’t think that you will get something when you didn’t work for it. Sometimes it fails and sometimes it works, but the only way to know is to try. Commit yourself to what you love to do, although, if it is catching up on TV shows you may need to lower that commitment level.

The Weekly staff is, in one word, dedicated. We are dedicated to the paper we create, but we are also dedicated to each other. In the basement of Co-ed, we work for 12 hours to make something half of the campus glances at and a quarter reads, but we still show up every week. I am honored to say I am part of one of the many families that exist here and you should find one too. They always offer a smile and, if you’re lucky, a slightly, or highly, inappropriate innuendo.

In a few weeks we will all pack our things and say, “see you later.” The bittersweet moment of graduation has crept up and it is our time to spread our wings and spread the Gustie love throughout the world. We wish current Gusties the best of luck but heed our advice. Before your 100 Days Countdown calendar arrives in your PO remember to eat up all the memories you can. Pile on what you enjoy, don’t pass on seconds, and lick the bowl clean.