Welcome to the real world

Gosh, it's a beautiful day. Another year has come and gone and here I am smack-dab in the middle of my wonderful college career. While I'm repeating "o, as, a, amos, an" over and over in my head, thousands of students are preparing to be acknowledged on Saturday and enter the glorious world of IU Alumni license plates (or skipping the graduation part and having their diplomas snail-mailed). \nWhile I'm debating about spending a semester in the beautiful land down under and taking summer classes, seniors are battling economic instability for a job. \nI hate nostalgia, but the graduating seniors deserve an entire newspaper devoted to them, let alone this column.\nRemember those corny "best smile, best hair, most likely to replace George Bush" high school senior polls? I always thought it would be interesting for seniors to write sappy words of wisdom during a sentimental period of their lives.\nSo I went on a search. I looked high and low for sentimental seniors. They weren't too difficult to find. And here's what they told me:\n"I'll really miss the beauty of this campus. Bloomington has been a warm and inviting home for me for these past four years," psychology/criminal justice major, Nina Rodriguez, said. "I wonder what life will be like outside of this wonderful place."\nApparel merchandising major, Amy Conway, said, "I am not scared to enter the real world, I'm excited. The biggest challenge though is doing it by myself."\n"I'm excited, but I will miss the summer and spring breaks," accounting and finance major Trisha Wilhelm said.\nAll three seniors agreed if they could relive all four years, there are a few things they would have done differently.\n"I maybe wouldn't have partied so much in the beginning…saved it more for the end when I could afford to go all out," Rodriguez said.\nWilhelm said she would have run more and ate less pizza.\n"I would have studied harder and been a nicer person at times," Conway said.\nThe seniors had a lot of advice to offer.\n"Really go out of your way to make friends and by just being yourself," Rodriguez said, "Realize that you are here for an education but still go out and have fun."\n"Go with the flow more. Don't overreact to stupid things," Conway said.\nWilhelm had some advice specifically for upcoming freshmen. \n"Have fun and don't stress out. It is the easiest year in school, so enjoy the 100 level classes because it only gets harder."\nAll three seniors seem pretty confident they will accomplish their career goals despite the economy.\n"I have to admit that I am very scared. I'm uncertain as to what I'll want to do next, and if I'll have the motivation to really find what's right for me out there," Rodriguez said.\nPeace, love and hippy happiness to the class of 2002. I'm sorry you have to miss out on another year of tuition increases. Congratulations, you are no longer the "future of America" you're the now of this wonderful country. How's that feel? May your journey in "the real world" be fun and full of adventure blah, blah, blah. Oh, and don't forget to wear sunscreen.