Amy Winehouse needs to stop beating people up.

The most under-reported stories of 2009.

Does the “nice guy” even exist?

Well, these posters are a bit insensitive now…

Is it worth it to travel in your 20s?

Balloon boy’s parents are sentenced.

Anyways, this may be the biggest sporting event of the year, but that doesn’t mean it’s my biggest event of the year. Or yours. This week, I asked the CollegeCandy writers to tell us what their “Super Bowl” is every year; their big event, their day to sit around eating guacamole and 7 layer dip. Ok, maybe not the last part, but you get the idea.

What is your Super Bowl?

Amanda – Wagner: Any big celebrity scandal feels like the super bowl to me. When Britney went after the paparazzi with an umbrella… oh my god, I bought every tabloid and read them all in one sitting.

Ashley Elizabeth – CU Boulder: That one day when you get all dressed up and that boy finally notices!

Marissa – High School Senior: The first day of summer. Summer solstice kicks off the season of no school, my birthday, the beach, warm weather…did I mention no school?

K – GWU: Definitely going to a rave. Best flipping time of my entire life and I want to epically return once a year.

Madison – Puget Sound: The post-Christmas sale week. You know, when everywhere from Target to Nordstrom has everything that you wanted (but didn’t get) for Christmas, but for super cheap. Amazing.

Maddie – Tufts: For me (and this is embarrassing…) my “super bowl” is my birthday. I’ve been making a big deal out of it since I was young enough to care, and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon. Who doesn’t want to be the birthday princess??

Lauren – University of Michigan: The morning after I actually get some and can sit around with my girls and talk about it over and over again.

Donnette – Manhattanville College: My one big trip.  I love to travel and it usually takes me a year to save up enough money and time to plan for a really great trip.

Laura – St. Johns: The first warm day of spring when I can finally break out my flip flops!  After being stuck inside boots all winter long, my toes love some fresh air.

Brithny – Duke University: Definitely Chinese New Year! Yummy homemade food, noisy firecrackers, and little red hong bao’s with money inside…what could be better? Btw, Happy Year of the Ox!

John – UConn: The John Bowl begins around December 15 and lasts through New Years’ Day. Isn’t that just Christmas? Yes! It is! The food, the food, the friends and the food. And the presents! And the joy and laughter and sledding and mulled cider with brandy and the food. If I could find a way to inject the Charlie Brown Christmas special into my veins, I would.

Leah – Ryerson University: Calgary Stampede!  Means being at home, drinking obscenely without being considered an alcoholic and getting to dress western for 10 days straight and not looking like a fool.

Julia – UC Berkeley: Game Days!!!! Especially our rivalry game.  Drinking mimosas at 7 AM and dancing so much that you forget to go to the game?  Best day ever, if you ask me.

Kari – FSU: My Superbowl is HANDS DOWN March 17th, the day I pay thanks to St. Patrick for freeing my homeland of snakes by drinking beer that turns my mouth green.

Sarabeth – University of Texas: Austin City Limits Music Festival!!! Hooray for three day passes!

CJ – UConn: My annual 21st birthday party.

Alex – Lakehead University: Traveling! I make a point of going on at least one big trip every year! Two years ago was Mazatlan, Mexico a month tour of Europe in an RV (ya…I know), last year was Scotland and England. This year, I’m going to New York City in March and, political unrest permitting, Thailand for August!

Sara C- Fordham: This doesn’t happen every year, but I go into full-scale party mode during the Olympics. I am the world’s greatest Olympics superfan (freak alert, I know), and I have people over almost every night to watch and eat pizza. To me, two weeks of the world’s best athleticism is waaay more exciting than some football game. Sorry. boys.

I don’t regret that “B” I got in English my sophomore year because I opted to go to a date party instead of the library. I don’t regret hooking up with a good friend, even if it turned out horribly ugly in the end. I don’t even regret catching a terrible cold that lasted 3 weeks after wrestling in Jell-O in the middle of October…in Michigan.

But if there is one thing I do regret from my years of undergrad it is that I never went abroad.

When my friends first started discussing going abroad for Junior year I was wary. Living in another country sounded interesting, but I was worried about being half way around the world for such a long time. I would miss my family. I would miss my friends. I would definitely miss late night pizza in Ann Arbor.

My friends moved forward, signed up to study in Australia and I opted out in favor of more time in good ole’ Michigan.

And I didn’t regret my decision…then. I had a great time! While it seemed like everyone I knew was going to be abroad, I ended up having tons of friends stick around Michigan with me. We all got a ton closer, I got more active in things around campus, I had an awesome spring break and it was a really fun semester (turning 21 helped, obviously). So what if my friends were off in Australia learning how to surf, camping in the rainforest or travelling through East Asia on their way home? Ann Arbor was just as great.

Then I graduated, got a job and realized that I only get 2 weeks of vacation time a year. Not nearly enough time for me to settle into another country, experience other cultures or see the world.

And the regret sunk in.

My mother makes fun of me whenever I bring this up. “Oh, poor baby,” she tells me. “You have such a hard life!” But she just doesn’t get it. I missed out on a truly once in a lifetime experience. I will never again be able to pick up and just go. I will never again have the time (and total lack of responsibility) to do serious travelling. So, instead of whining like I usually do, I decided to keep others like me from making the same mistake.

Go abroad! Travel! See the world!

If you have the opportunity to go abroad do it. Don’t let the little things keep you from such an incredible experience. Never again will you have an unlimited amount of time to escape from life and do something so rich and fulfilling. Going abroad is so much more than just meeting new people and seeing new things; it can really change you. Don’t miss out on that chance because of a boyfriend, a fear of the unknown, or any other dumb reason you keep coming up with. There is no good reason not to go abroad. None.

Unless, of course, you like the idea of spending your post college years sitting on your couch, watching the Travel Channel and crying about never having seen those things first hand.