This column turned out to be a difficult one to write. Usually, I sit down and pound out a rant on what annoyed me that week. There, it gets done, I have it off my chest, people can read it or not, what do I care? I'm always delightedly surprised when I find out that some people do read it. I've noticed how odd it is that people who agree with you, or want to congratulate you, will usually do so in private. Those who disagree, or hate your guts, will want to let you know in public and drag your name through the mud. Either way, I'm usually just impressed that people actually pay attention to my tantrums.

But this week, as you have no doubt noticed with the pages of columnists saying goodbye, is different. Do I really want to take leave being snooty and snide? Surely I can be pleasant just this once. A BBC show once tried an experiment that they said proved that it was the impression people left with that counted -- people generally don't have good enough memories to remember the first impression. So perhaps I should bid adieu gently, with a smile.

I can try, but admittedly it's difficult to be nice on the spur of the moment to a campus culture that I have publicly railed against for two years. If I sound generous now, it would probably come across as fake.

Which it isn't. Perhaps I don't acknowledge it often enough, but Cornell has provided me some the richest experiences of my life so far for which I am immensely grateful. How could I not just shiver with joy at the view of Cayuga Lake from just north of Ho Plaza, over Libe Slope? How could I not notice the chimes of McGraw Tower? How could I not remember strolls through the Plantations? Cornell has also given me some of the most intellectually stimulating experiences of my life. But most importantly, I usually calculate the worth of my life in terms of the number of people I know I shall stay in touch with over the years, and in this way, Cornell has been a diamond mine. People I have learned, laughed and loved with have been plentiful. I can be nice to them, sure.

But it would be dishonest of me if I did not point out other things Cornell has meant to me.

During the first week of classes at Cornell, I, the na