Most people agree that four years of incessant stress, staying up until 4 a.m., and abnormally cheap beer is more than enough for the average human being. Even one year of that lifestyle is not the least bit healthy.

What doctor would suggest going to bed at 4 a.m. after a night at the bar, only to wake up at 8 a.m. to find yourself tailgating for a noon football game at Beaver Stadium?

I can’t argue this is healthy for the body, but it is certainly healthy for the mind. Living off of Canyon Pizza and Ramen noodles may seem terrible, but the friends and memories you solidify in college are without a doubt the best medicine a person can get for one’s personality.

Always having my mind set on Penn State, I enrolled at Penn State Altoona in 2011 without knowing a single person at the school. Forced to randomly select my roommates, I found a group of other random guys who came from numerous towns throughout Pennsylvania, as well as states like New York and New Jersey. Four years later, I’m still living with those same random guys in a 12-person house on West College Ave.

If I had the opportunity to go back and change it, I wouldn’t. Why change what you already know is perfect?

I know countless students struggle to get through their freshman year with random roommates. Fortunately, I was lucky. For some students, rekindling old bonds after being separated for a long time can be awkward and tough. With the group I met at Penn State, we always pick up right where we left off, never missing a beat.

Penn State is a family, and the people in Happy Valley all share similar memories with the same amount of pride and honor for our university. If you disagree, think about how common it is to hear a ‘We Are’ from the distance when another Penn Stater spots someone wearing a shirt with a Nittany Lion on the front. It may come off as pompous and egotistical to others, but its a sense of pride that doesn’t happen anywhere else.

What’s even crazier is to find my Dad (who’s been a lifelong Pitt fan) wearing blue and white on a Saturday in Beaver Stadium, and not Heinz Field. Granted he’ll probably root for our neighbors to the west when Pitt plays Penn State in 2016, but my family’s support for Penn State and myself is something that I will forever be grateful for. Thank you Mom and Dad.

The memories crafted at Penn State will last a lifetime.

I won’t miss waking up after a night out at the bars only to continue it the next day for a noon football game. I think most can agree with me on that. What I will miss are the things that most people fail to recognize at Penn State.

Sure, I’ll miss sitting in the student section for the Whiteout game, I’ll miss walking past Old Main everyday and recognizing what an amazing school I go to, and I’ll miss places like the Rathskeller and the Phyrst. However, I can always go back to these places and experience them in a new light as a proud alumnus.

However, there are things that I won’t be able to relive.

I’m going to miss activities like grabbing a tea at Café or a Yuengling at the Skeller when I have class in less than hour. I’ll miss the impromptu trips in the middle of the day to a friend’s house when I know I have a paper due the following day. I’ll miss sitting on a front porch at West College on a warm Sunday with my best friends, reliving the memories of a great weekend.

Everyone has different experiences at Penn State, but still share similar memories of how they spent time sunbathing on Old Main’s lawn, or embarking into town on Friday night.

Saying that college was the best four years of my life (so far) is cliché, but everything I’ve experienced and lived through has greatly exceeded the expectations set from the stories of my friends and brothers. After sharing my stories, I only hope that my brother, who will attend Penn State this year, lives through the same experiences. Knowing the culture that surrounds Penn State, I’m confident he will.

So, how can you sum up four years at Penn State into one single column? I can’t, but I can leave you with one piece of advice: cherish the little things. Never take any moment for granted at Penn State, four years pass you by in the blink of an eye making it nearly impossible to slow down no matter how hard you try.