Yes, it�s my final column for the Setonian. Graduation awaits, followed shortly thereafter by something called �the real world.� But in preparation for this reality, I�d like to digress into some memories. It�s a necessary part of �moving on,� I�m told, but I�d like to avoid the traditional emotional (i.e. sorta sappy) way. Instead, if you�ll indulge me, I�d like to share some memories of Seton Hill University by the numbers.

I arrived four years and eight semesters ago. Seton Hill wasn�t my first choice, but it should have been. Even though I only took classes for seven of the last eight semesters, I�ve been able to keep the graduation date I�ve anticipated since I started, that alone being a feat. Credits seem to have just piled up, now totaling over 120 to earn my degree.

We all have mail, and at Seton Hill University (SHU) we have two types of mail: email and snailmail. Both have their pros and cons, but I�m beginning to prefer the mass emails to the massive amount of snailmail only because I�d rather open an inbox full of things that only exist in electronic code and don�t take up physical space than a mailbox full of snails ... I mean paper.

Conference is a buzzword on campus. Whether it has been for a while or has only become one recently, I cannot judge. What I do know is that Seton Hill University (SHU) is like a proud parent when students attend or present at conferences.

To no surprise, SHU is encouraging more students to attend or present at conferences. Support from advisers and professors as well as help with funding student attendance is bringing a number of students to the realization that they are becoming professionals in their fields.

All over campus students are pulling together papers and presentations to submit for a variety of conferences. These gatherings can focus on specific topics targeting a small audience or more general themes that include presentations on more specified interests. Whatever the focus is, if there are openings for student submissions Seton Hill students are on the pulse.

The semester is in full swing and, with the natural growth of the spiral of activities gradually taking over our lives, it�s easy to forget to take time away from our scheduled lives. Frequently our unscheduled time is eclipsed by all the compacted hours of places to go, things to do, and people to see.

It�s been said that we can only schedule about 80 percent of our time because it�s in the unscheduled time that Life happens. To be honest, sometimes I hate it when Life happens and mucks up the plans I�ve tweaked into perfection.

It is a common experience, in our own Lowe Dining Hall, to find yourself so perturbed at the behavior of others that you lose your appetite. Why is it that the dining hall becomes a place where common courtesy and manners are put to the wayside? Let us explore the most hideous antics and violations of basic politesse and etiquette. (Disclaimer: if you are easily disturbed or nauseated, perhaps now would be the time to turn the page.)

Chatty Cathies and Charlies - Whether you�re standing in line or sitting at your table of choice, the chatty Cathies and Charlies make their presences known. This is not just chitchat-the specimen, veliocistoma megas (trans: fast big mouth), behaves as though all in the local vicinity need to hear the conversation it is carrying on with another (hopefully quieter) individual.

In just the past few weeks I�ve made an alarming discovery - children change our behavior. They dominate our attention, vocabulary, mannerisms, and tolerance. We are better people when there are children in our presence.

Maybe it�s the innocence that makes us shift gears and tone things down. Maybe it�s knowing that they might repeat what we say or imitate what we do. Maybe seeing a child brings back memories from our own childhoods or of the children in our lives (nephews, nieces, cousins).

If you haven�t seen the ads, you�ve probably been living under a rock. Then again, there might have been ads under that rock, too.

The ads are everywhere, and it�s not that I have something against Hal Sparks. I am plainly irritated by the amount of advertising that�s been done. It�s gone on for weeks! It�s on the all walls, in the bathroom stalls, on the dining hall tables, on Facebook, and even on the school computer desktops.