I cannot wait to join such a prestigious group of degenerates and embark on yet another amazing journey here at the University of Illinois.

Yeah, I’m talking about those fifth year seniors who never seem to leave, the ones who enjoyed college a little too much.

 College truly is the best time of your life. It is when you learn the most about yourself and form relationships that last a lifetime. Better yet, it's when you are finally free to make your own decisions, good or bad. 

Looking back at my four years, there are things I wish I did and didn't do. I should have studied harder for that test, or stayed in that night but, no matter what, I have no regrets. I wouldn’t trade anything for the memories I have made here.      

Continuing this journey is something I look forward to. While everyone else is being thrown into the real world, I get the chance to have one more year. Yes, it might be an expensive way to have fun, but it is also another epic year friends. Nothing compares to having a ton of your closest friends packed in a town we can call our own.

In my four years, I have grown to love this town and all of you delinquents that run it. Why would you ever want to leave a place you’ve settled down in and can actually call home? Maybe I am being sentimental because I know I will be leaving soon, but I honestly don’t understand why you wouldn’t take a fifth year if you had the chance.

Let me break it down. Your advisors tell you, right away, to cram your schedules with 16 plus credit hours a semester so you can be on your merry way to the real world. Why be in such a hurry? Taking so many hours at once crowds your schedule and makes your classes much harder than they already are. Spread them out so you can focus on only a couple of classes at a time and actually enjoy your time in college. 

We all know somebody who has been getting straight As their whole life, but at what cost? Sure, some people can go out all the time and still continue to thrive, but not all of us can. Do you really want to look back at your time in college and feel you didn’t do everything you had the freedom to do? 

I remember a graduating fifth year telling me when I was freshman, “You remember the nights you spend going out with your friends, having a good time and making new memories. You will never remember the nights you spent locked in a book or a cubicle at the library.” So, go ahead, take that extra year. It’s called a victory lap for a reason.