I've successfully made it through the first three months of my college career. And as Thanksgiving approaches, I reflect on this semester and the classes I've had, the things I've done and the people I've met. And one thing has really stood out to me, besides the fact that professors always seem to hand out the big papers and exams on the days that have already gone really badly. Everyone, no matter who they are or where they're from, becomes an expert on their hometown or state when they enter college.

Think about it. When you meet someone in a class and ask them where they're from they will come up with some sort of trivia to qualify their hometown. For example: "Where are you from?" "Dayton, Ohio. You know, Martin Sheen is originally from Dayton."

My friends and I are no exception. Through various late-night conversations, I have discovered that Emily knows all about the Minnesota Twins, Sarah can tell me the places various Hollywood stars hang out in Los Angeles, Meg is the resident expert on the Mafia in New Jersey and Nora has become our very own South Bend sage. Want to know a great place to eat or shop in South Bend? Ask Nora. Which crime family had each of its wives mysteriously die while washing windows? Meg knows.

Being from Chicago, I myself have become a meteorologist of sorts for the area surrounding Lake Michigan. My forecast never changes: it will always get colder. No matter what the temperature is now, it will always get worse. While my friends from warmer climates huddle in their big winter coats, I am determined to boycott my own winter coat until snow accumulates on the ground (which, by the way, will not be until early December).

I think that we do this because each person, when they enter college, wants to show that their hometown is just as interesting as everyone else's. Either that or we just enjoy one-upping everyone else's stories.

Now freshmen, I'm going to bet that the same thing is going to happen when we go home for Thanksgiving this week. All those friends that we haven't seen since August are going to come home with all sorts of stories about their own schools. And we, in turn, will become experts once again, but this time on Notre Dame history, dorm life, off-campus parties and everything else about life here. And if it turns out that we are just trying to one-up each other, we have the consummate line to one-up friends from almost any other school.

Just ask them what their football team's record is.

• I am my hometown's expert