THE CLOSING OF the spring semester signals the end of many college careers. But not for me.

I̢۪ll be back for one last hurrah in the fall, with some knowledge as to how the world works. I know not to miss so many classes in a row that my psychology professor thinks I̢۪ve dropped the class. I know to never try to buy lunch in the USU between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

I also know I still have a lot to learn.

I suppose I’ve picked up a few vital pieces of knowledge along the way — things you should know (never, ever have a party where posting flyers is involved), things you’ll learn eventually (avoid ordering any drink that is blue) and things not even worth explaining because you’re bound to do them time and time again (this thing usually varies from person to person).

I don̢۪t want to feign being some wise-beyond-my-years college student. I still have one more semester to go before I graduate, so I suppose any words of wisdom are just a work in progress.

But I have learned to listen closely in class for things you won̢۪t be tested on midterms and finals.

I’ve learned to keep my ears open for those rare gems of information you can’t find in textbooks — the moments when professors step outside of their PowerPoints and share parts of their lives, the moments when class time truly deserves to be called a lecture.

Although some professors have sounded like my parents at times, they were right about a few things.

Which I suppose by default means that my parents were right, too.

Naaah.

A journalism professor who’s been around a long time — but by no means is “old� — once told me, “You will find that things will fall into place.�

(If, by “fall into place,� you mean “keep you awake every night wondering if you made the right decision,� then yes, you’re absolutely right, Professor Tucker.)

But some things you can never learn in a classroom or from profs. Like knowing when to walk away from someone you love.

I learned not to stay with someone who has bigger dreams for himself than for anything else. After all, it̢۪s tough getting anywhere meaningful with someone on the back of a motorcycle.

I knew when he asked me why I was breaking up to say, “If you love someone, set them free.�

And I’ve learned not to let him put a GPS tracking system on me as I walked out the door — a.k.a. add him as a friend on MySpace.

All the while, I’ve learned to be respectful of former significant others. And because of this, I know that it’s best not to write a column titled, “Everything I Learned Not to Do in Life I Learned from My Ex-Boyfriend.� That’s just mean-spirited and screams bad karma.

In any case, it̢۪s not entirely accurate to say that. I already knew not to engage in silly antics.

I don̢۪t know what next week, month or semester has in store for me. No one ever knows.

The only sure-fire thing I know is that, well, there̢۪s still more to know.

And I hope that things really will fall into place.