The first time I ever saw Virginia Tech I thought it was a beautiful school. Of course, not unusual for Blacksburg ... or "Bleaksburg" as many say ... it was raining.

But that was okay. I took my sandals off and wandered around campus in the rain. I was so anxious to explore. I explored buildings that happened to be unlocked, including Burruss, which seemed an overwhelming spectacle of Hokie stone. And I went into academic buildings, and the library, and then I just walked full circle around the Drillfield.

This would be my home for the next four years ... and I was happy with that.

Okay, so that was really five years ago. But the time in college goes by so quickly ... then again, sometimes it seems to take forever. I am in my senior year now, something that during my years here I actually wondered if I would ever achieve. As I look back on my college career there are a lot of things I think I would have changed, but I guess everyone has things in their life they wish they had done differently. I guess if I could pick the most important thing, it would have to be to have taken school much more seriously when I first got here. Maybe I should have even considered taking a year off after high school just so I didn't get burned out, which is exactly what I think happened. That infamous senioritis we all seem to feel in high school had not had a chance to leave, so when I entered the realm of college, it followed closely behind.

That is not all that made my freshman, or "frosh," year difficult. When I came to college, I was unqualified to receive enough financial aid to go to school. So, with that came trying to work -- three jobs. To make a long semester short, I took my spring semester of my freshman year off. That meant I had to work in the real world.

From January to August of 1993 I was working full-time. Boy, was that a reality check. You never realize how important education is until you are working a full-time job that pays squat, dealing with many people who look down upon you, and feeling like you are going absolutely nowhere. That's why I was so determined when I came back to school, because I knew I would never get what I really wanted if I ever gave up. And I hadn't given up yet, so why start now.

As I look toward graduation, which is just a month away, I find myself reminiscing about my college years and enjoying the memories that were made right here on this campus. And I think of all the millions of students before me and those that will come after me that will be able to make some of those same memories. College is full of experiences that a person may not be able to have anywhere else.

I watch as my college career closes its final chapter. As you progress through the years, you have written it, changed what it has meant to you, and made each day a different one. For those who come to college, I can only hope you learn half as much as I have and have as have many experiences as I ... because even though five years is a long time while you are living it, it is really just a small piece in the overall scheme of things.

If someone had told me five years ago what would occur while I was in college I would have never believed them. College is a wondrous place that is full of different paths.

Coming to college is truly an eye-opening experience. No longer do you have family dinners, or have to eat your peas so you can have some of those brownies your mom made for dessert. No longer do you have a list of chores to do, like cutting the grass, or taking the trash out. And no longer is that curfew of 1 a.m. in force.

You are on your own. Of course, mom still asks each time she calls if you are eating right and getting enough sleep. And dad is always ready to give you a list of chores or "projects" he has created for when you come home the next time.

The care packages that come delight and please. And those few weekends you do go home because you were homesick (although you would never admit that to your parents) you take your laundry home and mom somehow always manages to wash it for you. And in the back of her mind she wonders how you have gotten by so long without any clean clothes.

Along with college comes dormitory life. If you come to college thinking it will be horrible, don't worry -- it will be. But if you look lightly on the idea of living in a small room, about the size of your parents' bathroom, with another person and both of your belongings, it really won't be all that bad.

The most important thing I learned was communication. If you don't know how to say to your roommate that you think he or she is being obnoxious or loud, or just plain messy, then you could have problems. Communication is the key. That is what they say in every relationship that exists in the world today, yet somehow we all manage to ignore that advice and do it our own way. Not so, my dear Watson. Living on campus, in that small room, with all that junk plus two people means you must cooperate and give a little every once in a while. Of course, you could always just move off campus.

All is not lost while in college. College is a new learning experience, and not just in your classes. You learn by living in the dorms or an apartment, you learn by being a member or the president of an organization, you learn by joining a Greek organization or a service organization, you learn by going out and partying instead of studying for your exam, but most of all you learn all this on your own. Mom and dad are not there to hold your hand and shield you from the horrors of reality. It's just you and the hundreds or thousands of other freshmen on campus with you.

I really think college is one of the best learning experiences a person can have. It is the stage right before you step out onto your own into the real world of work.

College is simply a stepping stone to help you grasp that freedom and independence you have been searching for ever since you first popped your tiny head out of your mother's womb 20 years ago. As you step onto the campus of Virginia Tech or whatever college you have chosen to spend a part of your life at, you should realize that it is only the beginning of your life. College is when you decide what you think will happen in the rest of your life. It is when you meet the people who will be important in your life for many years to come. It is when you meet future wives or husbands. It is when you decide to work after four years or head on to graduate school for a few more years of schooling. It is when you decide that engineering is not really what you wanted, but what you parents wanted, and that you really want to dance or act or write. But the most important thing you learn while in college may be about who you really are. Who you were when you came to college and the person you are as you leave college. The doors may close behind you and the people may wish you well, but you will always know that you can escape back through those doors through memories and pictures and long talks with old friends at 2 a.m. long after you have left this beautiful campus behind.

Laura G. Rosback was an intern for Virginia Tech Magazine. After graduation in May 1997 she will be working for the Times Corp., a community newspaper company, in Reston, Va.