What a journey it has been. As this semester ends, my column ends with it; a culmination of the opinions and remarks I have been trying to initiate into the daily conversations of Boston University students all semester.

Why do we write? The 'right' answer would be to point out the obvious and explain how we yearn to leave behind a mark, something that remains when our bodies move on, something to be remembered by.

A few days ago, I had a very strange dream. Some of my recollections are a little hazy, but the first thing I remember was landing in Terminal C at Logan Airport from an unknown destination.

Over this last semester, I have periodically pushed the not-especially controversial idea that George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were two of the finest Americans who ever lived '-'- men who led by example during the most tumultuous times in the history of the republic, and who could teach contemporary leaders something.

Near the end of the campaign, Joe 'foot-in-mouth' Biden prophesized, 'it would not be six months before the world tests [President-elect] Barack Obama.'

Black Friday stomped in and took its victim this past week. Many media outlets touted this year's post-Thanksgiving as a spectacle of American perseverance in the face of recession.

I've been told I'm a woman of simple pleasures. Give me a new pair of shoes every now and then, buy me a pound or so of pepper jack cheese at the deli, tell me about the new designer diffusion line available at H&M, and I'll be a happy camper.

Anyone who caught a glimpse of the television within the past five days was doubtless reminded firsthand of the realities of the world we live in today. The Mumbai shootings give further example of the evils that exist in this world.

I started getting intense migraines this semester. When I finally couldn't function, I gave up on my natural remedies and trekked to Student Health Services.

A friend of mine from high school, whom I haven't seen in a year or so, called me out of the blue last week needing a place to stay. I set him up on my futon and we evaluated how we both had changed since we last met.

On Jan. 20 2009 Sen. Barack Obama will take his oath of office. At that time, five of the nine U.S. Supreme Court Justices will be at least 70 years old.

I think I have a problem. I steal from the dining hall to feed this problem. I buy them in huge amounts and hoard them in my room, only to find them devoured by the end of the week as I desperately try to hide the evidence.