As the closing ceremony concluded and the Olympic flame was extinguished last night, another Olympic games became part of history. Yet, what may not be realized by SU students of all ages is that the Torino Olympics have a special place in all of our lives.

College undergrads are only in school during one Winter Olympics during their four-year tenure. The four-year separation between winter games means that only once in a lifetime will a person witness an Olympic games while living away at school. Since summer games occur when students are residing at home and most likely working an internship, Summer Olympics are not intertwined with the college experience.

The point is, college is the only time (besides retirement) that a person will have spare time during the work day to watch the events. When you are a kid, you are at school for six hours smack in the middle of the day, and there are not many jobs I am aware of that allow for long recesses around lunchtime. During college, schedules allow for students to have anywhere from 45 minute to four-hour breaks in between classes, giving ample time to take in a couple speed skating races or the semi-finals of bobsledding.

As a freshman, I feel cheated. The seniors were able to look forward to watching the Olympics during a school year for the past four years. I will only be able to look back and reflect on how awesome the past two weeks have been.

Christopher Curran, freshman public relations major and ROTC cadet, said of the games, ‘I have learned to love every event from curling to ski jumping.’ For Curran, it may be even more difficult to watch the 2010 Vancouver games than it will be for most students, due to his obligation to serve active duty in the military upon graduation.

‘It’s terrible to think that I might be somewhere in four years where I will not be able to catch the Olympics with my friends,’ Curran said.

The collegiate lifestyle allows for the freedom to intake more Olympic competition than most other ways of life. So don’t regret skipping geology to catch the end of the biathalon or not reading a chapter of Spanish to watch the end of the giant slalom. This was our chance, folks. Only those ‘lucky’ architecture students will get to watch two Winter Olympics while at school (if they are actually spending time outside of studio). Besides them, we have all lived through our one Olympics at college. Michelle Kwan’s retirement, Apolo Anton Ohno’s remarkable speed skating and America’s Bode Miller and Lindsey Jacobellis blowing their chances at gold: These will be some of the lasting memories we will collectively share of these games.

Not much unites us in this global age, but the Olympics will always bring the people of this country and the world closer together. Just ask someone who was in college during the 1980 Olympics; I bet they’d tell you it’s pretty special.