Tuesday took a lot out of my brain cells and a lot out of my wallet.

Fellow Collegian staff members Darrell Copeland, editor-in-chief Brandon Santiago and myself had to run over to the grad fair taking place at the Kennel Bookstore. We just felt that it was important to make our families proud and get everything from cap and gown to announcements to grad packs, etc.

What didn̢۪t make us happy were the long lines, high prices, the warm weather, the suit making me wish that I were wearing Fresno State clothes (what Darrell had on) or the fact that we didn̢۪t eat prior to the event.

When it was all over a good hour had gone by, the pictures had been taken and my wallet had coughed up more than $400 on graduation items.

It is safe to say that I overachieved during the grad fair, but it was meant to make those around me proud. I̢۪m sure Darrell and Brandon made people proud, too, once we were done. We then celebrated our accomplishment by getting Don Pepe̢۪s.

However, my goal now is to convince you to not make the mistakes that we made when your grad fair opportunity comes:

1) EAT SOMETHING BEFORE THE EVENT: We had no idea that the line downstairs would be long and take up a lot of time.

2) MAKE SURE ALL PAPER WORK IS FILLED OUT: As we were approaching the cashiers, we then get a notification about needing to write down the number of announcements for the ceremony cards and then sign it. This made us go all the way to the back of the line once the papers were filled out.

3) BRING AN ORANGE CONE: Or something that won̢۪t make you lose your spot in line.

4) UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR PICTURE TAKEN, DON̢۪T WEAR A SUIT: I felt like barbequed tri-tip with the outfit I had on.

5) SAVE MONEY! Graduation is expensive! I literally paid my rent money on graduation!

I will say that the grad fair was a great experience and I̢۪m glad that I got what I needed, even though I probably over-committed myself.