A look back

This will be my last article as a student and member of this paper. I have the fortune of graduating this June and will be leaving the shackles of University life to enter the "real world." Since the commencement speaker this year is a joke, I thought I would just depart on some final thoughts of my own.

First, the myth of "you can't graduate in four years" is bogus. I was able to graduate in four years with a degree in accounting. It wasn't easy and there was a time when I took back-to-back 18-credit quarters. The fact of the matter is, most degrees can get you out in four years if you stick to at least 15 credits per quarter and don't take any slack quarters. It is tough, but it will save you a year in tuition.

My next thought is my disappointment with the ASUW as a functioning group. Never in my life have I been surrounded by such resentful and close-minded people. Whether it is its refusal to budge on affirmative action or its adamant no-exceptions support of unionization, the ASUW simply does not work for the normal student. I do not mean to categorize all ASUW types, there are many exceptions, but as a whole, whether it be as an ASUW senator or Board of Directors candidate, the student government has a very narrow agenda and will need serious reform of thought for it to help the average student again.

Probably the most upsetting thing to me as I leave this University is the fact that so many of my peers believe skin color is such a deciding factor in life. Whether it be lowering the bar for students of color or just trying to press on a collective sense of guilt, many of my colleagues seem to believe that if you are white then you are racist and if you are of color you have never done anything wrong. This is really sad and I hope in the future students learn that all races are equal and that institutional hate is more a myth than a reality. True diversity is not superficial; it is who we are and what we believe. That is how we can strengthen ourselves and learn more about others.

In college you learn a lot in the classroom. But I think that you learn the most from your friends. My friends have taught me the lessons of having courage, standing up for my beliefs, learning to accept others as people even when I disagree with their choices, the art of compromise, and loyalty. Most importantly, my friends taught me that the most important thing in life is not money, power, fame or myself -- it is the people that enrich your life. Your friends, family and God will be with you through thick and thin, which is something that can never be replaced.

I would like to close by saying thanks to everyone. Thanks to those who disagreed with me and thanks to those who wrote letters to the editor criticizing me. Thanks to those who called me on my crap and thanks to those who helped me become who I am. Thanks to those that always had a smile when things got down and thanks to those that helped me when I needed i