Whew, finally. After three years of syllabi you never read, inboxes full of frat party invites and late-night D.P. Dough orders you’re glad you don’t remember, you’re a senior. Whether you’re counting down the days until graduation or so in denial that you haven’t accepted it yet, this is it. The final countdown. The last waltz. And while you’re figuring out how you’re going to survive senior year without a mental breakdown, here are some tips to keep you sane.

1. Realize all the things you won’t have in a year

This is the last time you can be constantly surrounded by your friends. It doesn’t matter if you live in a house, apartment or on campus, there will never be another time you can so easily have people to hang out with at any hour. The only person you have to take care of right now is yourself, and this can be so easily underestimated.

You can get too drunk or make a fool of yourself and it doesn’t actually matter. As much as you think everyone will remember the time you got called out for texting in the middle of Lecture Hall 1, they won’t. And if you’re ever haunted by nightmares about your hook-up with an 18-year-old being broadcast, just remember you can always delete Facebook pictures. Part of being young is being able to make mistakes and get away with them. Savor it while you still can.

2. Dedicate some time to figuring out a plan

As if it wasn’t unnerving enough as a freshman, sophomore and junior, it’s actually time to figure your life out. People aren’t as forgiving when they ask what you’re doing after graduation and you respond with, “I’m not sure.” Do your best to make connections while you’re still a student, because it’s tough out there, especially in this economy.

If you’ve already had internships, reach out to old employers or even other interns. A follow-up email or note matters more than you know and could lead to a future job. Even if you didn’t do an internship that is related to your major, or if you hated it, reaching out and networking could land you a job elsewhere.

If you don’t have a job lined up, have never had an internship and still aren’t sure what you want to do, research graduate schools. See what majors other schools have to offer. Maybe you’ll find better luck getting a master’s degree in something that wasn’t available here. But do this as soon as possible — it’ll be a lot less stressful organizing your future now than realizing you’re clueless when you throw your cap in the air in May. After all, you want to have something to show for all your hard work when you catch it.

3. Remember that it isn’t over yet

Make a bucket list with your friends of things that you can only do in Binghamton — unless you plan on spending the rest of your life here, in which case you might want to re-evaluate your decision.

Get a spiedie, go to Merlin’s, hang out with Rasa, whatever. After this year it’ll be much less acceptable to do so many things that no one will judge us for now. Well, they probably will, but it’ll all be forgotten in, like, a week.

The year just started. Your friends’ albums titled “The Beginning of the End!” (as cliché, overused and nauseating as they are) are true. There’s a lot more time to build up your résumé, hook up with people just because they’re standing next to you in the Rat and figure out exactly what you want to do with your life. So enjoy it.

And in May, if you still don’t have it all figured out, you can always intentionally forget to take a gym class and go for year five.