But as I inch closer and closer to graduation each day, I’ve taken the time to consider that maybe it’s not all bad. Four years is enough time to realize that college has its pros and its cons. And maybe I’ve just been looking at this whole thing the wrong way. I’m going to try for optimism instead. And that’s why I’ve listed for you a few of the things I absolutely won’t miss about college.

1. Writing papers. I’ve done my fair share of paper writing over the last four years and it never gets any more entertaining or interesting. The research is annoying. The outlining never works. The writing process is disastrous. And the entire thing just makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs and pull out ALL. OF. MY. HAIR. I’m grateful this part of my life is almost over, if only to prevent the need of wigs at such a young age.

2. Dining hall food. Even if you go to one of those schools where the food is actually edible, after four years of the same choices on rotation over and over and over again it really is time for a change. Plus, dining halls aren’t exactly known for having the healthiest dining options. That personal trainer I’ve been meaning to get will appreciate my sacrifice of no longer eating chicken fingers and fries for lunch every day.

3. Overpriced books. $300 dollars for a used Shakespeare textbook that I will never, ever use again? A Shakespeare textbook it doesn’t pay to sell back because I’ll probably only end up with a measly $50. I won’t ever have to deal with this again. My bank account has sent me a fruit basket in thanks.

4. Annoying e-mails. Campus wide e-mails about gym closings, changes in dining hall hours, information about lectures no one is ever going to go to and resume building seminars that are about as helpful as, well, resume building seminars. My Blackberry will be particularly relieved because every Monday at 9 a.m. it will no longer experience a sudden rush of e-mails, causing each individual alert for each new e-mail to turn into one high pitched screeching sound.

5. Core classes. No more science. No more math. No more art history. Say goodbye to all of those classes you should have said goodbye to back in high school. Maybe in post grad life I’ll finally get my answer to that age old question, “When am I ever going to use this again?” Oh that’s right, I already know. Never.

Well, that worked out better than I thought it would.

College students are notoriously strapped for cash, and everyone on campus knows this.  Maybe administrators only do it because they feel guilty for sucking thousands of dollars out of our bank accounts, but the truth is, they actually provide plenty of awesome things for students to utilize – but we never seem to take these opportunities.  Why is it that the turnout for dollar beer night is always SO much greater than the number of students who show up for on-campus lectures?

There are so many chances that college students simply fail to take advantage of.  Here’s a little bucket list, College Candy style.  Make sure you take advantage of each of these things at least once before graduation.  Trust us – these opportunities are painfully rare once you get out into the real world.

Newspapers - Recently, we heard about a school that decided to terminate its free subscription to the Wall Street Journal because students just weren’t picking up copies.  Most institutions offer free copies of top papers, only to find discarded piles week after week.  Even if you only take it for the crossword, grabbing a free copy is totally worth it.

Special Guests – We’re not just talking about the lectures that pertain to your courses (although we totally advocate going to those too!). A lot of schools invest time and funds to bring really interesting people to campus, but students just don’t seem to appreciate it.  Take the time my school had Project Runway runner-up Althea Harper come in and talk about her experiences as a designer – it doesn’t get much cooler or more current than that, but only a handful of students dragged themselves away from happy hour to attend the event.  Piece of advice: the next time you see a sign promoting a guest speaker, check it out.  It may be your chance to get some great advice, listen to amusing anecdotes, or even meet a celeb – and you can usually do all this for free (or at least cheap).

Clubs -  Even super-involved high school students seem to have difficulty joining clubs in college.  Maybe they are time-consuming, but the truth is that clubs give you a much-needed break from the monotony of classes and homework.  Everything is offered, from musical groups to the school paper to intramural sports.  The second best thing about clubs is that they give you a chance to try something new, even if you don’t have a ton of experience or talent; clubs lack the competition and pressure of more official activities. The best part?  Free food is served at most of the meetings.

Dining Hall Buffets – The ABSOLUTE best way to really get bang for your buck.  Go on a totally empty stomach and let yourself go for four helpings of pure deliciousness.  It’s a great way to try a lot of new dishes, too. My personal recommendation?  Go during finals week, eat lunch, sit around and study while grazing on snacks, and then eat a full-on dinner a few hours later.  Just make sure you have a pair of oversized sweatpants on hand for the next day

Interesting Courses – So many people take classes for one reason and reason only: to satisfy graduation requirements.  But take it from a recent grad; college has so much more to offer.  The absolute best choice I ever made in my four years was signing up for a diversity workshop.   So if you’ve always secretly wanted to try pottery, sign up for a course.  Make it your mission to take at least one random elective every year – who knows what you might learn?

So here you have it, kids.  And one last piece of advice: if you’re shelling out thousands for school, try to limit skipping class to the mornings when you’re just too hungover to get out of bed.

Week after week (after week after week…), CollegeCandy and our pal John bring you some of the weirdest, funniest, and saddest things he hears on his college campus. And we know he’s not the only one who hears this stuff. Join the Overheard revolution! Listen in on some weirdos’ conversations and share them in the comments or send ‘em over. You know there’s a lot of funny things to be heard on your campus, so get listening.

(Guy, watching something in a sports bar.)

Guy: Okay … yeah, okay … ALL RIGHT! YES! I’m the BUTTERMAN! I’m the SEXY BUTTERMAN!

(Two girls, studying in the library.)

Girl 1: Yeah, I’ll probably start sleeping here too. Under the tables or something.

Girl 2: No, I said “sleeping with girls” in the library. That’s different.

Girl 1: Oh. Yeah, I guess it is.

(Girl, in a movie theater lobby.)

Girl: Yeah, what was up with those? The shak-ti people of the dunelands. The mol-kot people of the high cliffs. The lint people of lint-land. The butt people of my butthole.

(Guy, drops his food in the dining hall.)

Guy: Aww, bigc**k bearsf**k.

(Girl, on the phone in the library cafe.)

Girl: Wait … a cactus? Geez. Wow. Hard times. … Yeah, I guess it is cheaper than seeing a Proctologist.

(Professor, during the last lecture of the semester.)

Prof: Honestly, being a straight woman is really overrated. I’d say “eat it, straight girls,” except you can’t.

(Girl, singing softly as she unpacks her stuff in the library.)

Girl: One, two, three, I got finals and me, calc and chemistry and I’m caught in between.

(Guy, entering a dorm lounge.)

Guy: Oh my god. That interview.

Guy 2: How was it?

Guy: You know how, when you get nervous, you feel like your stomach is full of butterflies? Mine felt like it was getting ripped out through my anus.

(Two girls, next to the fruit section in the dining hall.)

Girl 1: You think we need a trash bag?

Girl 2: Yeah, I’ll get one.

Employee: Excuse me. You can’t take those.

Girl 1: We can’t?

Girl 2: Yeah we can.

Employee: No, you can’t.

Girls: (leave)

I do not miss the anti-fun police.

I’m heading back to my old college this weekend to reunite with friends. And by friends I mean 9am kegstands and a drunken stumble to the football stadium. And as I pack my suitcase full of college t-shirts, flip flops and my cell-phone flask, I’m really starting to miss my college life.

Wait. Who am I kidding? I always miss college life. Every. single. day.

It’s just that knowing I’ll be traipsing through my old stomping ground tomorrow has me extra nostalgic. I’ve spent the past 3 days looking at old photo albums (those are those books that existed before Facebook allowed you to create albums online), drinking to increase my tolerance to college proportions, and crying myself to sleep at 10pm since I have to wake up at 6am to go to work.

After drowning my sorrows in 3 shots of tequila last night, my friends yelled at me to snap out of it. “You’re out of college, woman. GET OVER IT.” But how? How am I supposed to move on from the best 4.5 years of my life (of which, I an only really remember 2.25)? By focusing on all the downsides, of course!

College was the bomb.com, but it wasn’t perfect. There were plenty of things wrong with it, so this week I asked the CollegeCandy writers to remind me share their biggest college pet peeves. Note: I still wanna go back.

Ricki – Univerisity of Michigan: When frat guys pour cheap vodka in Grey Goose bottles and try to pass it off as the real thing.  Boys, we can tell. We’re not that drunk!

Laura – St. John’s : While living down the hall/just across campus from all your friends can be a blast, it definitely sucks when you’re trying to avoid someone (i.e. the BFF you’re fighting with or that guy you hooked up with while you were drunk).  You have nowhere to hide!

Sara C – Fordham: ResLife. Ever notice how the on-campus housing staff want to make it seem like you live in a jail cell, not a home-away-from-home? Thankfully, I live off-campus now, but condescending RAs are THE most annoying thing about college.

Thu – USC: How people have been accepted to a good university and yet still insist on stealing bikes and other property. I don’t get it. Some people just have no integrity.

Kayla – California State University, Sacramento: It’s so annoying to realize that my peers still haven’t grown up. If you still giggle at the word “breast” in an upper-division Human Sexuality course, you need to mature some more.

Elizabeth – UC Berkeley: How when one person gets sick, everybody gets sick.  We live in way too close of quarters…

Melanie – Northeastern University: I thought people left their uniforms at Catholic School. Apparently not… black spandex, college sweatshirt, UGG boots and big sunglasses. No. Thanks.

Zahra – Northwestern University: I hate how sometimes social life mimics some dramatic show about high school – people make huge deals out of tiny things that usually won’t matter in a week!

Nina – Michigan State University: People’s perspectives of college. I hate when people assume that because I’m in college I must be all about getting wasted and tailgating at the crack of dawn. College isn’t just an endless orgy of alchy and doing the no-pants dance. Sometime between my last shot and my 3am Taco Bell run, I actually go to my classes. And besides, I refuse to start tailgating until at least 9am (beauty sleep, anyone!?).

Katie – Michigan State University: I hate how you can never run into your best friend in four years of being on campus, but you’ll always see that awkward hook-up or the guy that broke your heart… in your classes/living in your dorm.

Charlsie – Hollins University: When I’m taking a shower and someone comes in the bathroom and drops a nasty smelling sh*t. 1) Just because the water is running doesn’t mean I can’t hear what’s going on and 2) I think the smell is worse with the shower going.

Leah – Ryerson University: Those people that are already super pretentious and feel the need to rant on about subjects they know nothing about.  I hope the real world knocks them down a peg.

Carly – Grinnell: I hate how the students are so reluctant to mix with the townies in a really small area. Hello, you occupy the same space! Don’t be afraid to mingle.

Elizabeth – University of Missouri: Dining halls close at 7:30 pm! Seriously, is it a crime to crave overprocessed mush at 8 pm?

Lauren H – The New School: For some reason it seems like people go off to college and forget how to shower and brush their hair. I mean, we all have mornings where we don’t have time, but there’s no way you’re that busy for four or five days straight. It’s hygiene!

Anna – Northeastern University: People who get so stressed out about how many friends someone can bring to a party. I can’t tell you how many times a group has split up so we can get in. If you’re going to let that number of people in anyways, who cares if they’re all together? If you’re worried about it getting crowded, don’t have a bash!

Dannia – Loyola University, Chicago: That you always have to be living in fear that campus security is going to bust up your parties. Even if you’re all 21, they will find a way.

Sarabeth – University of Texas: I hate taking the bus up to campus. How many times am I going to be hit on by creepy homeless men??!?!

Kim – Stanford: The one thing I hate most about college is that it eventually will end. Depression to follow.

What’s your biggest college peeve?
Mine: the fact that I’m not there anymore. FML.

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First, you pick your base (options are organic granola, french vanilla granola, organic muesli and low fat granola), and then you can add in dried fruits (I chose dried mangos, bananas and raspberries…yum!) and nuts (omega-3 rich flax seeds for me). To top it off, if you want to add some treats to the mix, pick from “extras” such as gummy bears, yogurt covered pretzels and chocolate chips.

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Yay granola!

Strange, silly and awkward things overheard on campus this week:

- A lanky blonde man leans against a doorway, talking to a short-haired brunette.

“She’s really… nice, you know?” He shakes his head. “I mean, I just wanted someone to care about.”

“But a freshman?” she asks, feigning surprise. “Really!“

“Yeah. It was like fishing with dynamite.”

- Two grizzled, swarthy males stand in the dining hall.

“Man, I can’t believe there aren’t any forks,” remarks one, his thick lower lip turned in a pout. He moves one finger toward his collar unconsciously.

His friend looks sadly at the empty racks. “Yeah. I mean, I don’t even know anyone who uses spoons.”

- Across the dining hall, a guy stands up and starts singing “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You” from Mulan . About three quarters of the table joins in within seconds. One other guy grabs his tray, gets up and stalks away. “I thought we were done with this,” he says, darkly.

- Down the hallway, a pink-faced man is tying a lumpy plastic bag to a door. As I pass by, he looks up and smiles conspiratorially.

“It’s ladybugs,” he says.

- A punky blonde girl and redhaired boy – they look like a couple – are sitting with some others at a cafe table.

“But honestly,” says the boy, looking around the table. “Who sleeps with freshmen?”

As he looks back at the girl, she’s pointing straight at him. He shrugs.

- A professor, standing at the head of a class on prejudice and discrimination:

“Entries should be one page minimum, 12 point font. And please don’t write these drunk.”

“But what if you’re out drinking and someone says something racist?” asks a student in the back. “And you just have to write about it, but you won’t remember in the morning?”

The professor thinks about it for a minute. “Then I would take notes,” she says.

(Incidentally, the same professor suggested “gatorade and rice” as the best hangover cure.)

- Outside a dorm, three guys are sitting on the steps. They look sad about something

“Man, this sucks, dude, I’m so hungry.”

“Yeah,” says another. The smell of marijuana is thick in the air.

“F*ckin’ sucks,” the third says, mournfully.

At their feet, Lucky Charms are scattered about the steps.