You’d think that after weeks of writing columns exposing what is wrong with Northwestern and the city it is ensconced in, I’d look forward to my last column, my last chance to kill the school softly with my song. You’d think that I’d look back on my four years and come up with enough mud to sling across an entire paper, let alone one column.

You’d think. But when you get right down to it, I had fun in my four years here.

Sure, there are problems: This university won’t do anything for you without putting up a bloody trench war; Winter Quarter inherently sucks, and no amount of clever scheduling or hot girl befriending will change that; we may call ourselves a Big Ten university, but we sure don’t act the part.

But I think the best piece of knowledge I gleaned while here is that – believe it or not – you can blow off classes if you want to and still make the grade.

Look, college is what it is. No matter where you go. College is a machine, really, and nothing more. It will take you in, throw you around and then spit you out.

You can either sit on that conveyor belt, reading your books and writing your papers and complaining about how overworked you are, or you can grab everything you can while you’re here. You can do something that gives you the right to spraypaint “(Your Name) Wuz Here” on the wall before you go.

Do me a favor. Don’t sit on that assembly line. If there’s something you want to do, do it. That is exactly why you’re here.

The sickest thing I saw was my freshman year, when I went and saw Barenaked Ladies at Allstate Arena. (Oh, save it. You liked them back then too.) I went with a bunch of Wildcats, and it was fun and everything. But between sets, I turned to my left, and a few people in our row were immersed in textbooks. Studying. At a rock concert.

Sure, it’s the school’s fault for giving us more assignments and readings than the leading brand. They don’t understand that we also have jobs to pay this tuition. They don’t get that there are student activities we’d like to get involved in or games we’d like to see or parties we’d like to go to. So they just pile it on.

But if you let them win, then you’ve lost college. You are not your classroom or your lab to slave away in everyday. You are not your papers or your midterms. You are not your unnecessary references to “Fight Club.”

There have been two times when I seriously considered dropping out of school, because I was stressed out from all of the work. (Both were Winter Quarter – surprise, surprise.)

My remedy both times was to lay off the books and try some other things. It worked. Suddenly, college became a cool place.

In that sense, you’re lucky to be going here. Plenty of student groups, an impressive array of visiting speakers and events, a major city close by – basically the opportunity to do anything you could ever want to try. Take advantage. Trust me.

Because college is a ride you can’t get back in line for.