College is an integral time for young people to develop into mature, law-abiding citizens. But, it is not always so easy to achieve this great feat on our own. Young people need guidance in order to figure everything out. Many students look to their parents or teachers and maybe even their coaches and neighbors for guidance.

Me? I dip into the rich well that are movies.

There is really only one main character I use to help me through the day in my sometimes stressful and confusing college life. In social settings -which are important for developing good people skills as an adult- I sometimes find myself searching for the right thing to do or say. Sometimes, an introverted and quiet guy like myself has trouble reading situations and has to wonder how to handle them.

So, if I'm at the Boat Club trying to get my cup filled with another Keystone Light and some guy bumps into me, or if I'm at a small gathering and I want to compliment a young lady on her new hairdo, I may get a little choked up and wonder how I can express myself in the right way. Also, if I have a question or a problem with a professor, I sometimes have trouble expressing my concern correctly.

Clearly, it is important to have the right role model to learn from. You wouldn't want to be walking around modeling yourself after a character that doesn't command the utmost respect and admiration. You need a character who can simply handle every situation with the greatest ease and grace.

Really, there is only one choice; when I need guidance, I don't go to my advisor, I go to Don Vito Corleone.

Can you think of anyone with a better story? Vito can do anything. When he was 10 he stood by and watched his father, mother and brother be murdered by a Sicilian mob boss. For his safety, he fled to America, only to return after he grew up to take revenge on that same mob boss, while whispering his name into the man's ears making sure that they were the last words he heard before he died.

Vito built his empire completely by himself. One day, he's working in the produce section of a grocery store, the next, he's running New York. He simply shoots the head of the neighborhood because he's just sick of paying him every week. He helps an old lady keep her apartment by making her landlord "an offer he can't refuse." He made his godson a big, Hollywood superstar because that's what his godson wanted to be. When a producer tries to exile his godson from Hollywood, Vito puts the head of the producer's racing horse in bed with him in order to convince him. Whoa! Even the toughest henchman in the world, Luka Braza, gets all choked up when he has to talk to Vito.

And Vito does all of this in the most respectful way. When the other families in New York are getting into the narcotics business, Vito refuses. He doesn't want to get mixed up in that dirty money. Vito always treats everyone with whom he comes into contact with the greatest courtesy, and therefore, he is the most respected man in New York. Not to mention, Vito is portrayed in his younger years by Robert De Niro and in his older years by Marlon Brando. I don't think it gets any better than that.

If Vito were at Boat Club and wanted a beer, he would get it. If he wanted to compliment a lady, he would. If a professor didn't give him the grade he thought he deserved, he'd make them an offer they couldn't refuse.

So, when I see those bracelets that say W.W.J.D, I can only think about how I wish I had one that said W.W.V.D.

The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Observer.

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