An old friend once told me I came out of the womb wearing a Collegian T-shirt.

Typing out the letters W-M-N-S-T has become like second nature for me.

As opinion page editor of the Daily Collegian, I’ve had an extra task to do every day during the past couple of weeks.

It’s a moment in my life that still makes me sick to my stomach.

It’s one of the few things everyone is born with, it’s the first gift you receive from our parents and it stays with you forever.

The first time I walked into a newsroom, I got chills. It’s the most clichéd of all journalism clichés, but it’s true.

If you had asked me a month ago whether I’d miss Penn State after graduation, my answer would have been something along the lines of, “Yeah right.”

After this past Monday’s press conference, Joe Battista raced to a brown shopping bag lying next to a giant white billboard that stated: “Guy Gadowsky, Welcome to Hockey Valley.”

Like the ping pong balls in a lottery machine, there are many questions bouncing around inside the head of a college rookie.

I walked back to my East Halls dorm room after class one day during freshman year and looked up at the dark-gray rain clouds hovering overhead. I prayed they wouldn’t burst before I made my way back to Sproul Hall.

I have been in love with the Collegian since I first stepped into the James Building basement, a freshman 10 minutes late for tryouts and very lost.

The sign hanging above my computer reads, “Welcome to The Copy Desk, Bitches. Do yo fact checks… or else… we’ll kill you.”

Try a life without a car. Seriously, give it some thought. I’m pledging right here, right now, to avoid car ownership until I’m 30, and beyond if possible.

We may get voted one of the safest campuses around, but as of recently I am doubting that statement. With numerous attacks on students downtown recently, be it sexual or physical assault, I believe it is the job of the businesses and apartment buildings downtown to place surveillance systems around their property.

When friends ask me for advice, it’s because they need help figuring something out.

On May 14, I will walk across the stage at the Bryce Jordan Center, shake hands with the dean and raise my college diploma.

I walked into the player’s lounge of the Lasch Football Building to help tell a story, the way I had so many times before.

When I sat down to write this column, I had no idea where to start.

College has made life real for me. Things just feel more vibrant here.