As students, we think about our futures constantly: our future location, our future job, our future families, etc. But one thing that might not cross our minds is the one thing that we will all have in common no matter what else is in our future: being Northwestern alumni.

Homecoming weekend just ended, and I’m sure most of you saw real live adults around your dorm or the library – a rare sight.

While we are probably still struggling through the end of midterms or filling out job applications, desperately working toward the above-mentioned futures, these alumni were here, nostalgically celebrating their bygone days as NU students.

Homecoming may not mean very much to us now. We might view participating in the parade as just another obligation to fulfill, and come on, there’s not even a dance like there was in high school! But five, ten or fifty years from now, we’ll appreciate the chance to reunite with our current best friends and relive for a weekend the supposed best years of our lives.

While we’re in the midst of it, we acutely feel the ecstasy of our wins and the pangs of our losses. But when it’s all said and done, and everything has worked out, we’ll probably just remember the good stuff.

When we enter the world of Northwestern alums, we probably won’t remember the time our alarm didn’t go off and we missed a midterm, but we will remember when we rejoiced at pulling off an A- in chemistry.

We won’t remember getting a bad housing number, but we’ll remember the laughs we had with our floor friends.

We won’t remember all the potential employers who never called us back, but we will remember landing that great first job.

While it’s impossible for us to make it through college without our share of setbacks, zeroing in on those will blind us from the good stuff. Do we want our five-year reunions to be the first time we realize how great college was?

We like to complain about everything we have to deal with at Northwestern, like our never-ending classwork and the horrid winter, so it’s rare to hear students raving about school as they sit down for dinner after a long day of difficult classes. But if you were to ask any one of the alums who trekked to campus from all over the country, I bet they’d be singing a different tune.

We have to work hard, but we can’t forget to enjoy. Going to the football game with plans to leave at halftime only makes you feel guilty when you want to stay because Northwestern’s up by ten.

Worrying about the presentation you have to give in your 3:00 p.m. class will keep you from grasping the profound concept your 2:00 p.m. professor is lecturing on. Sometimes looking ahead to our next deadline or exam prevents us from enjoying right now.

The next time you turn down what would be a great opportunity to spend time with friends, make a great memory, or take advantage of a fantastic opportunity because you’re stuck catching up on work, make sure you’re prioritizing correctly.

We must remember to enjoy Northwestern while it is our home, so that we have enough to reminisce about when we return for our Homecomings. We can’t ignore our obligations and responsibilities or we might never become alums, but we can’t forget to throw some fun in there too.

We should all remember to enjoy the present. Even the things that seem to suck right now will be some of your favorite memories. Case in point – Saturday Night Keg was PACKED with alum.

Meredith Wise is a Weinberg junior. She can be reached at [email protected].