When thinking about this year, my senior year, I have realized that I have a lot to say. I recently was a Macward Bound leader in a successful attempt to make some freshman friends and found myself having to limit the amount of advice I was doling out, because I just had that much I wanted to tell them.

If you and your best friend date guys who are also best friends, it is going to get awkward for someone, eventually. Hooking up in the woods could give someone poison ivy. Lock your door when having sex AND text your roommate. Conversely, if a dorm door is closed, knock. Friends with benefits easily turns into messy friendships. Turkey drop is more like pumpkin drop. People may have sex in a Dupre bathroom stall, on a Sunday morning, at 10am, in which case you should go use the other bathroom and try to erase your memory. Seniors want to hook-up with juniors, sophomores, and even freshmen, and they will probably end up with a few people left in their own grade that they would still consider.

But in all seriousness, the past three years have been eye-opening, a struggle at times, usually enjoyable and altogether memorable. So in having this column, I hope that my insights can help others at those various stages I have already been through. It is also my goal to share my experiences with my fellow seniors as we venture through this last year together, hoping to God (or whatever greater being you may or may not believe in) that someone will hire us or accept us into grad school.

I by no means think that I can represent all experiences or viewpoints at Macalester, for I only have my one unique viewpoint and a few willing friends whose experiences I can additionally draw on. Likewise, I do not plan to follow in the footsteps of Sarah Mueller in writing so eloquently and pedagogically about the ins-and-outs (pun very much intended) of sex. Also, full disclosure, I have watched the entirety of Sex and the City at least three times, and am no doubt influenced by the ground-breaking series, though I am wholly interested in talking about issues surrounding relationships at Macalester and will keep my discussion of high-heals to a minimum.

Rather, I hope to share my senior wisdom (if you can call it that) and to be a cheerleader for optimism in regards to sex and relationships at Macalester, because as much as everyone complains about a lack of sex on campus, my experience and most others I know demonstrate a very different story. Hopefully my tales of embarrassing, sad, and entirely wonderful experiences with the opposite sex can bring a laugh, a relatable comfort, or even a jolt of confidence to your year. Undoubtedly, my relationships with friends of both sexes are also integral in explaining these episodes in my college life and for this reason, friendships are equally my focus in this column, if not explicitly so.

So I hope readers enjoy this column I am working on because it has been three years and I have a lot to share along with my classmates, and it is, after all, No Shame Senior Year.