So this is it: The beginning of the rest of my life. Looking back on it, I can remember being a scared freshman, homesick and full of anxiety about what the next four years would hold.

Now, I just wish I could get those years back, or at least relive them in part.

There is something about this transition period of college, when you are neither a child nor fully adult that is really special. It’s a time to find out who you really are, what your views are independent of your parents and to find what really matters in your life.

There have been a multitude of ups and downs during my time at Saint Louis University, but there have always been two constants: my friends and The University News.

I didn’t know it then, but when I went to SLU 101 before school started my freshman year, I met the core group of friends I would hold throughout my time here.

Ours was a friendship begun by apathy, none of us wanting to do the so-called “fun” organized activities at orientation. So we just hung out and talked about where we were from and what we hoped to do with our lives and a billion other things.

Later that night, we made a surreptitious trip to Ted Drewes, where we realized that one member of our party-who eventually became my best friend-had never been to that hallowed frozen custard institution.

I never thought much about these little moments at the time, they were just fun things that we did, but over the years they have become the important memories that I will hold onto for a long time.

I found more friendship when I decided to start drawing for The UNews. I had heard about the newspaper from my uncle, who has been its official and unofficial advisor of the paper since Nixon was president, and I thought, “Hey, this would be a pretty cool thing to do.” So I walked in on my first production night and was confronted by a room full of totally insane people.

I fit in perfectly.

For the next three years, I always knew what I would be doing on a Wednesday night: drawing cartoons, joking around and producing a newspaper with a room full of my closest friends.

These nut jobs-and I say that with sincere affection-became my family, and the newsroom became a home away from home.

So I guess what I’m trying to say here, at the risk of sounding sappy, is that you should commit all of your little moments to memory. College is one of the golden ages of your life. Right now, it may seem like all you do is live deadline to deadline, but it won’t amount to a hill of beans after you get your degree.

When I look back on my college years, I won’t remember why every paper was so important, but I will remember the things that matter, my friends and the things we did together.

I will be glad to leave SLU, but I will not be glad to stop making memories with the greatest friends I’ve ever had.

Elizabeth Glueck is a senior graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences. She is the chief illustrator for The University News.