The clock is ticking.

There are just a few short weeks left of my career at Notre Dame. As graduation and bigger things get closer, I find myself trying to capture what it was like to spend five years in this University. I wonder what my classmates, studying architecture, drawing cartoons and all those other things have done to shape me. I want to know what kind of person a graduate of Notre Dame becomes. As a collected group, who are we?

I have determined that we are many things, several of them in contradiction. We are huge — the school's national name and international draw gives campus a larger-than-life image. When someone throws a bottle on a basketball court, it's national news. The same goes for the administration and nearly every decision they make. But we are also incredibly small. As a collected community we barely fill the JACC. Everyone seems to know everyone else, so news travels fast and contentious news even faster. We poke our noses in each others' business and make others concerns our own. Ten years from now we'll probably tell people about our friend Conor who got sick, whether we knew him or not.

We are arrogant, though sometimes it is endearing, even charming. We know how difficult it can be to get into and through Notre Dame and are damn proud of the fact we've done it, and that self-confidence is attractive. Our favorite game (and most unsettling) is to prove to everyone that we have more work and have had less sleep than they have. There is no school more boastful when our athletic teams do well.

We are critical. We berate our own teams when they struggle. We rip into the few people courageous enough to speak from another viewpoint. For every concession or consideration we get from the administration, we find four more things to criticize. Frequently we are right, sometimes we are wrong, but we are constantly looking for a better model.

We are insensitive. So many of us are similar in background and upbringing that we sometimes don't understand the outlook of someone who wasn't. Just as often, though, we are too sensitive. We take every joke or satire way out of its context and determine that it has offended every inch of our souls. We refuse to laugh at ourselves. We do not realize that finding humor in our faults is a healthy way of beginning to deal with them.

We are enterprising. Many alumni have criticized us for tarnishing the school's image. In the end, though, we'll be remembered for more positive things. On our guard, Notre Dame students have launched NDToday.com, providing the consistent social dialogue the school has been trying to foster for years. Other students formed the women's boxing program. Formerly an all-male school, ND has developed into a powerhouse for women's athletics. We have preserved time-honored traditions for those to come and created new ones.

We are compassionate. We rally around classmates who need our support. We do service work in astounding numbers. Our classmates created Teamwork for Tomorrow, a brand new mentoring and literacy program for youth that will eventually serve as a model for similar programs around the country.

We are loyal. We are concerned. We are spirited. We are ND.

• Who we are