Salute your senior buds in spring

By Christopher DaCosta

Celebrating birthdays, dancing provocatively on tables, playing Trivial Pursuit and wrestling in a kiddy pool full of everyone's favorite brand of lube â€" a few of the elements of the average Santa Clara weekend. I'll let you decide which two events I participated in during the two days of the week I am actually awake for. (Hint: I'm not the wild child I make myself out to be.)

Besides seeing droves of freshmen accosted by Santa Clara police, I noticed one recurrent ingredient in this recipe for a memorable (or not so memorable, depending on the beverage of choice and the subsequent volume consumed) weekend â€" friends.

I'm not talking about getting plastered and running into the anonymous guy who insists that he sat behind you in Global Studies 101 last quarter and reuniting like old chums bound together by the intensity of core requirement No. 8. No. I'm not talking about that mildly hot chick you were repeatedly slurring to in the keg line about "how awesome this party is."

I'm talking about the people you hung out with freshman year to escape the odorous exploits of your roommate; the guys who you can spill nacho cheese sauce on or those you can chief â€" even if he still does have his shoes on and still be buds a few minutes later; the people who you can laugh with about the couple sloppily making out at a party, even if you're part of that couple; the girls who will always be your Valentine no matter what and who will always be ready with that tub o' fudge when heartbreak strikes.

Between amusing myself with witty away messages and tending to my rare hipster denim collection, I realized a horrific tidbit of information: Graduation is about fourteen weeks away. No, Santa Clara isn't rid of me yet, I'm still a lowly and overworked junior â€" but many Broncos nearest and dearest to me will be departing in a mere quarter.

Once June 13 arrives, no longer will I be able to bask in the ultimate upperclassman glory of my senior friends. No longer will I be able to hit the speed-dial function on my cell and call you to just kick it. No longer will I bump into you while traversing campus to go to class. No longer will you give me the urge to be late or cut class just to hang out.

So as I realized this weekend, it's not only the items in my wardrobe I should be cultivating â€" it's the friendships I've formed in the past three years. Do the same, your collegiate clock is ticking; there are only a few months left before the class of 2004 leaves forever. At the risk of sounding like a MasterCard ad, college lasts four years and costs about $120,000 â€" memories with friends last a lifetime and are priceless. Make the most of it.

Good luck on finals and see you next quarter.

û Contact Christopher DaCosta at (408) 554-4546 or at cdacosta@scu.edu.