This past Monday, students at Miami University went back to class. If I were becoming a senior this year, I too would be going back to class. I can remember the beginning of last year. Scott and I arrived a week early so that we could help with freshman move-in. Unlike the previous year, last year, we had techs posted at all of the freshman dorms. I remember that I was posted to Peabody Hall. This was a problem because the Ethernet jacks we were supposed to use didn't work. Fortunately, Peabody had a wireless network in the building, so we were able to use that to access the call-tracking database.

Like the year before, Matt's girlfriend lived off-campus, so he moved into our on-campus room a little bit at a time but stayed at his girlfriend's apartment to avoid the crazy charges. I probably went to a party later that evening. I went to lots of parties the week before class started and the first week of class.

And then, on Monday, I went to class. I went first to my religion class, and later that day to my Spanish class. I was pleased to see that Ashli and I were in the same Spanish class. And that was the end of that day.

But no more.

Class, for me, did not begin on Monday. There was no celebratory uptown walk to Mac and Joe's. Never again will I be able to play Bases Loaded on the Nintendo. Never again will I be able to walk over to Scott's room and both him, or go visit Ashli, Jess, or Elizabeth upstairs. Katie Spurrier doesn't live downstairs anymore.

One by one, our friends left. During our sophomore year, everyone lived in Bishop Hall -- except Scott, who practically lived in Bishop Hall. Then Drew, Cole, Emily, and Dree moved away. The next year, Katy Gonzales moved away and Carman never returned to Miami University. The dynamics changed, often resulting in us having to go off-campus for our parties, but all of our friends were there.

Mark doesn't live here anymore. He lives in Centennial, Colorado, which is more or less where Katy used to live. His room is inhabited by Brad "Rasputin." Matt doesn't live here anymore. He lives in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. Scott lives in Pickerington. Ashli lives in Kazakhstan. Katy and Mike live in Cincinnati. Elizabeth lives in San Francisco. Jess lives in Timberlake, Ohio. Katie Spurrier lives in Hamilton. She has one more year left at Miami. So does Sarah Tilton, who's moved out of the house on Main Street in which she spent three years. Now she lives in a dorm. Carman lives in South Carolina. Drew goes to OSU's law school, which is pretty close to Scott and Matt. Andrew lives far away from everyone; he's at New York University.

Here's a map of where we live now:

Minus Ashli, though. This is where Ashli lives relative to the rest of us:

All things are transient. People come and people go. But we have our memories. We have memories of the greatest days we spent together, and the worst. We can think upon them fondly or angrily whenever we want. But we mustn't let memories rule our lives. We're forging new memories right now, and when we meet again -- which I know we will -- we'll have new memories to share.

Kids, take heed: college is the best time of your life. You'll hate it when it starts and long for it when it's gone. It's a place where you'll make some of your best friends and have your greatest experiences. It's like a transitory period between childhood and adulthood, a place where you can do things that you will never be able to do again. Live down the hall from your friends? Go to parties every weekend? Never again. Enjoy the experiences while they happen. Don't ignore anything. And remember so that, one day, in a moment when you're reading a book, you'll suddenly be reminded of the time that Cole got drunk and decided he would go shave in the bathtub.