When it came time to move up to Gainesville and start my college career three years ago, I ended up living in Thomas Hall with by best friend from high school.
After a two-year break, we are living together again, and he has expressed disappointment in failing to experience the UF sports culture.
Unlike myself, a total sports junkie perhaps to a fault, he was never a big "sports guy" and could probably count all of the university athletic events he has attended on two hands.
"You wish you had been more involved now, yet you were on campus for arguably the greatest three-year time span at any university in the history of college sports."
OK, so consoling isn't my thing.
But honestly, I feel bad for him. When I look back at my time here as a fan, before I decided I wanted to be a sportswriter, I remember all the experiences I had with my friends.
I could name UF's third-string running back, starting pitching rotation and women's soccer goalie, but that isn't what getting involved in Gators sports is about.
It's not about BCS rankings, half-court traps or the 6-2 volleyball attack, either.
Being a UF fan was sitting five rows up from the front pylon of the north end zone with a handful of friends while watching the Gators stomp Southern Miss during my first game in The Swamp.
It was waking up soaking wet after sleeping on the O'Dome concrete for a week before the Kentucky basketball game.
It was laughing as my friend from back home bought a $5 "Spurrier is a cock" T-shirt outside of The Swamp then watching the most dramatic live sporting event I have ever been to, capped off with a Jarvis Moss field goal block to preserve a potential national championship.
And it was road tripping to Atlanta to watch one of the greatest basketball teams of all time repeat in one of the most fun weekends I've ever had in my life.
"This is the best weekend of our lives to date," one of my friends said to me.
Sports are part of the culture "here at the University of Florida," as Tim Tebow would say. They're a part of everyday life and a part of the college experience.
When I got a job at the Alligator I traded in my orange and blue body paint for a notebook, recorder and an objective view on all things UF-related.
Don't put yourself in a position to regret your general sports apathy right before you graduate or when a career or school decision forces you out of the stands.
The camaraderie is something you will never get back, and the memories made with your friends are priceless.
Trade in a couple nights at the library for a couple nights in the O'Dome, McKethan or Pressly.
Because even if you aren't forced into a world of objectivity, med school or law school might strip you of your freedom down the road.
You only get so many years of $70 lottery season tickets and free admission with a Gator1.
You only get so many years of dropping a keg at a tailgate just down University from The Swamp.
And you only get so many years of doing it with a bunch of friends who are just as amped about sports as you are.
My best friend from high school only has one more year to try to make up for everything he never took the time to explore in his first three, but worst of all, he doesn't have too many people to do it with.
Many of his friends, not to mention himself, are in crunch time for finishing their degrees or in grad school, unable to escape the library for much more than a shower and a bite to eat.
I was even traitorous enough to give it all up for a byline and a column name.
Enjoy the epicenter of the college sports world while you can.
While you still have friends to share it with.
And while it's still just a Stadium Road stroll from your dorm room.
