To my friends, acquaintances and everyone

Logistically speaking, I was telling the truth. But mentally, I was having a tough time making that fact "work for me." It was working me over, more like it. For the past three years, when I planned my trip home, I would think to myself, "OK, if I book my flight on such-and-such day, can I get in all the things I want to do before I leave?" The answer each time was, "Sure. Worse comes to worse, the rest can wait until September." But, of course, next September won't find me in Princeton. This is it.

So cue Green Day's "Time of Your Life," right? High school prom all over again, but worse? That sounds like a column I'd write, and indeed, I've been writing nostalgic columns ever since I got here. But, sad as I am about leaving, I'd like to do more than blow my nose on a tissue and then publish it. Instead, I'd like to think about some of the things we'll miss, and try to figure out what, if anything, we can do about it. And, while there are many things that I'll miss about Princeton, it's the people — y'all — that are at the top of my list. So, that's what I'm going to talk about here: our own social atmosphere and what makes it special.

It's easiest to notice on a snow day, when everyone's out making snowmen, or on a spring day, when everyone's out on the grass in the sun, but it's true all year round: We're a pretty amiable bunch, and it's remarkably easy to turn a new face into a new friend. Chemistry provides a good analogy: The activation energy for social interaction is remarkably low on a college campus — it doesn't take much to get friendships going, or to maintain them once they start. Accidental collisions are often enough: Think of all the people you know as former roommates, or as hall-mates, or from your writing seminar, or from a student group you used to be a part of. The list goes on and on, and if you ever need to get back in touch with them, they're still right next door, so what's to stop you?

Indeed, the fact that it's so simple to get together with fellow students when you're an undergraduate is well known, and no one likes leaving it behind. A friend of mine who went to Harvard but is now a grad student at Berkeley met his current girlfriend through an online dating service. I was shocked to hear this — what's sketchier than online dating? — but he said, "Just wait! Undergraduate socializing is a paradise; you've got to make do with less afterward."

He's probably right, and not just when it comes to dating. Living on a campus makes meeting people casually, and staying in touch with casual friends, so much easier. The fear, then, is that these smaller friendships will dissolve once we leave campus; that they can't survive outside of the environment in which they were created. We won't be able to keep in touch with everyone we know and like. Some names will fall off the radar, all but forgotten. That's a crying shame, but what can we do?

Well, I think there's one last stand we can make against the tide that threatens to dissipate so many small but dear connections. Here goes.

ATTENTION, people I know, even just vaguely! We might only see each other once a month, but I think you're all right. I'm glad we met! Even if we don't so much as exchange birthday wishes on Facebook, I want you to feel comfortable getting back in touch, no matter how far down the road. Who knows what our lives will look like then? Maybe I'll be working at a toothpaste factory, and your kid is doing a report for his fourth grade class on toothpaste, and you want to know if I can get him a tour. Maybe you'll want me to join a recreational Ultimate Frisbee team that you're putting together. I don't care — you should give it a shot. Just mention that we were at Princeton together, that we vaguely knew each other, and I'll be happy to hear from you. Maybe nothing will come of it, but don't let that stop you.

Missing Princeton is a natural part of leaving Princeton, and it too will pass. After we take the sappy, sobby moments in stride this June, we'll each find our own next community, which will fill the same role that Princeton once did. But that doesn't mean we have to leave behind the good friendships we have here.