18 - The Michigan Daily - Best of Ann Arbor - Thursday, April 13, 1995 0 S The Michigan Da Just a few thoughts about four exciting,' I'm sure there are a few students who are lost somewhere in there amongst the more obscure stacks. The only problem is that those handy little cu- bicles are always filled. Where else are you supposed to sleep? Best Place to Study: Law Library Best Place to Work Out: CCRB. Whooo. That's the sound of your breath being violently exhaled. Clump! That's the sound of your body impacting with the pot-holed cement. Where are you? Standing at the door of the CCRB, ex- haustedjust from having walked to this place from the Hill. It certainly !ooks like a good place to work out ... from the outside. Best Campus Tradition: Naked Mile Yeah, it sounds erotic and all, but think about it! This is Michigan, people! Ghostly, sun-deprived celulite, body parts shriveled in that chilly Michigan air... it's a load of fun for those who don't have prob- lems keeping food down. Best Cause / Issue / Movement: Hash Bash Yeah, man, Hash Bash is like right on. All those groovy speakers draw thou- sands of stoners out of the Arb for a day of protesting and pot smoking on the diag. We're so lucky to have a day like this. I mean, even the Reefer Bunny showed up! So, here it is, my final column of the final Weekend etc. of the fi- nal year of my attendance at the University of Michigan. As all my loyal readers know I have been la- menting for the past few weeks about the end of my illustrious col- lege career and now it is all com- .,+ Best Professor: Don Kubit He's the master of communications ... the Fabio ofjournalism ... the Pulp Fiction of professors. Too bad he doesn't work here anymore. Best Blow-off Course: Communications 103 Intro to Comm. Hey, grab the Blue Notes everybody! It's time to sleep through Comm. 103! Actually, the communications depart- ment has been trying to reform its blow-off, bunch of jocks image re- cently, and that includes a more chal- lenging work load for Communica- tions 103. Boy, it's a good thing stu- dents are starting to take the commu- nications department seriously around here! Too bad they'll have to transfer to Michigan State next year. Best Course: Communications 290 News Writing Informative, entertaining, and the best way to learn about running a news- paper. Maybe someday someone at the Daily will take this. Best Residence Hall: West Quad Friendly atmoshpere, nice looking athletes, and just a few short steps away from the delicious food at the Union... what more could you ask for in a residence hall? (Well, aside from a talking elevator, of course). Best Library: Graduate Library Well, it doesn't quite have the party atmosphere of the Ugli, but the Grad Library sure has a lot of books. In fact, ing to a final conclusion in this here column. I have been dreading the ap- proach of this particular column because I wondered how I could. eloquently sum up four amazing years of my life in words that will never actually be able to describe them. I'm sure some of you have been looking forward to the end of my "thoughts," while some of you have graciously told me you will be sad to see them end. For a moment I would like you to indulge me while I attempt to ex- plain to you what it has meant for me to have this column which I con- sider to be an extreme privilege to write. For the past four years, I have endeavored to do my share in bring- ing the campus its news and infor- mation. Sometimes I did it by writ- ing about cultural events, some- times by guiding the staff of the Daily as its editor in chief and sometimes by sharing a little bit of myself through this column. What- ever my method, the motive was always the same, to uphold my in- tegrity and try to spread even the tiniest bit of information. What has been wonderful about the column is that what you read is really me. It is not censored, it is not fake. My friends tell me that reading my column is just like hav- ing a conversation with me. Now I know that some of you don't like it, and while I wish that my style would appeal to everyone, I know it doesn't. But, if nothing else I have been true to myself. Anything else would have been a disservice. With the approach of gradua- tion, I think it is fairly common to witness people doing a lot of evalu- ation and reevaluation. Those of us who are moving on, some to more concrete destinations than others, think about what we have done here and what all of it has meant to us. Now there is the tendency to go overboard with this which must be avoided, but a little reflection is healthy and normal. The pressure for seniors to reflect is great. Everywhere we go people are asking what we will be doing with our lives. Personally this question is get- ting old, as I have no clue what to tell people other than that I have got a few irons in the fire. But nonetheless it makes me think. Recently I was in a meeting with a University official who asked me how I had enjoyed my time at Michi- gan. He was curious to know whether I was leaving with a positive or a negative feeling. Initially, I gave him my patent answer about how I am re- ally going to miss Ann Arbor and that it is more a part of my now than it has ever been. However, once I got home and continued to think about it, I realize I could have given him a much more multilayered and complex answer. Because the truth is that leaving is not easy, especially when I know that clo- sure is not really possible. If I were to truly give an answer about how it feels to be finishing up my degree I would have to talk about a whole host of things. The emotions involved in such a part- ing can be traced all the way back to freshman year. Had someone asked me then how I would have felt at graduation, I would have said relieved and glad to be free of a place which felt large and unscaleable. Now, the university isn't quite so unmanageable. In fact, it seems quite small to me now. Four years ago, I never would have known that Backroom pizza hits just the right spot after a late night at Mitch's. I never would have known that snow in April really is a pain in the butt. I never would have known what it was like to have dinner with Presi- dent Duderstadt at Inglis House. I never would have knc was like to run one of student newspapers in How I view the un certainly changed even an institution it has changed that much. Fou as I get ready to head o things sure look a lot me. Four years later wh periencing are no longer are lasts. Realistically, not muc am doing right now has t time I do it because I can a back. But, it is the last ti: these things as a student what makes them special These days I walk a pus with my mental busily jotting down eve the memory I am recorc to be able to remember idly so that I will be at them years from nov thinking about lasts can I multlayeed nd cmplx anwer