DAVE BARRY once wrote, "College is basically a bunch of rooms where you sit for roughly two thousand hours and try to memorize things."
I've decided that this is mostly true. A good chunk of my college career has involved memorizing things like the birthplace of T.S. Eliot (St. Louis). Another chunk has involved writing long, obscure papers on long, obscure books, and then turning in said papers and selling back said books, forgetting all about them and then doing it all over again the next semester.
I had a panic attack a few months ago because I convinced myself that I hadn't actually learned anything during my almost-four years at the University of Virginia. I figured I had read a lot of books, and that was pretty much it. I was in no better shape to enter the real world than I was on my first day of college.
Then I thought back to that first day, setting up my brand-new Dell computer in my dorm room (well, watching my dad and the dorm ITC guy set it up), getting hopelessly lost on Rugby Road that night and feeling as if college might almost be too much for me.
Now, as I sit here remembering that timid first year who had no idea what she was doing, I think, damn. I've really grown up.
And I realize that I have, actually, learned at lot during my time at the University -- and not just how to make a couple of incoherent ideas about some piece of literature into a 20-page paper.
I've learned all about the South -- most notably that barbeque is an actual food. And it's quite tasty.
I've met all kinds of people from all kinds of places, and learned that the best friends can be the ones who are completely different from you.
I have tougher skin now -- being a conservative columnist in a college newspaper will do that to you. Actually, the slew of angry e-mails from angry liberals will do that to you. While I've learned to stand up for my beliefs, I've also learned that if you refuse to listen to the other side, you're just as wrong as you think they are.
I've learned that lack of class participation will always affect your grade. Always.
I've learned that the Waffle House is the most crowded at 4 a.m.
I've learned to not be afraid to try new things. It gets slightly less scary each time.
I've learned that you have to sleep, eventually. Watching the sun come up over a paper-and-book-littered desk and a blinking computer screen is perhaps the worst feeling in the entire world.
I've learned that it's really necessary to skip class every once in a while.
I've learned that you have to go after what you want. No one is going to hand you the world on a plate -- unless you happen to be a billionaire, or maybe the child of the president. So either become one of those two things, or take a chance, set your sights on a goal and go after it -- no matter how long it takes.
Perhaps most importantly, my time here has taught me that although you will inevitably face disappointments, you will run into walls, and that, more than once, the world will seem like it's coming to an end, but don't worry. It all works out in the end, somehow.
And so, in the long tradition of Cavalier Daily farewell columns, I'd like to take these last lines to thank all the people who helped me to learn these things, and who guided me along the way.
You don't have much if you don't have family -- and my family is the greatest. Thanks for all the phone calls, e-mails, long drives back and forth and general constant support and love over these years. I wouldn't want to be any color other than Brown.
The next best thing to family is great friends -- and I've got those, too. Beth, Heather and Sarah -- you girls are the coolest. Thanks for always laughing with me, and for making apartment 15 the best place to come home to.
Jay -- I've known you since my first week here. I can't imagine college without you. If I could, it would be a whole lot less funny. Thank you for everything.
I never had any sisters until I walked into 502 Rugby Road and met the ladies of Alpha Delta Pi. You won't find a nicer group of girls anywhere else.
Thanks to those great professors who not only teach, but actually take an interest in their students' lives. It makes a world of difference.
Thanks to everyone who read my column -- yes, even you crazy liberals. I will actually miss your angry e-mails next semester.
Finally, thanks to The Cavalier Daily for giving me a space to rant and rave every Wednesday. It's been quite a ride.
As my fellow fourth years and I head out into the dreaded real world, we should know that no matter how uncertain and scary the future may seem, it will all work out in the end.
Now if I can only remember that come graduation day.
Kristin Brown can be reached at kbrown@cavalierdaily.com.
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