Today, my dear readers, I require more than just your interest in my column. I ask that you preserve this page until your graduation date.

If you are freshmen, I imagine it will be pretty difficult to keep up with this one article for the next six years. Yes, I said it: six years.

I have no doubt that you are capable of graduating within the almost-defunct four year plan, but nowadays, the dynamic of college has changed. Why? Because many of us are still trying to find ourselves.

As cliché as that sounds, it makes sense. Arguably, the biggest hindrance in college completion is the simple fact that we do not know “who we are.” And our promiscuous experimenting in liberal education only makes things worse.

By the time sophomore year hits, we are unsure whether to spend the rest of our lives with business or start a relationship with engineering. Unfortunately lifestyles like that will only lead you down a road full of general education classes and an undeclared major until your fourth year.

College should not be a place where you find yourself. It should be the place for mastering your interests. I am not asking you to know every exact detail about your career, but identifying what you enjoy doing is a start.

If you are one of the select people that don’t know what they enjoy doing, what they want to do, or what they are good at, I would suggest you move out from under your parents’ rock and explore the world on your own before you jump into college. Not only will you save money, but you will save your frustrated academic advisor’s time as well.

If you still choose to be defiant, try visiting the Exploring Majors Fair here at NIU. Hosted by the Academic Advising Center, the Exploring Majors Fair showcases many different majors and minors here at NIU and gives students a chance to interact with faculty and staff within a concentration to get an idea of what to expect in that field.

With all the resources NIU provides, there should be no reason why you shouldn’t be on track and finishing on time.

I know I probably should not base my argument solely on slower college completion without including other factors such as the hardships of financing college and the negative outcomes of the “college social life.” And to those points, I completely agree.

However, time is money, and the time spent trying to complete seven years of undergraduate studies could have been the money spent to cover four years and post-graduate plans.

Now back to my original proposal. My dear readers, upon graduation, I would like for you to pull out this column and check the date.

If you have succeeded in completing college in four years, feel free to send me a gift of gratitude for being your motivation. If it took you longer…well, still send me a gift, but attach a “You were right; darn you, undecided major” card to the package. I’m sure Walgreens sells those in the “Find yourself” section.