You were at a crossroads.Fresh out of high school, immature, dazed and confused. Confronted with the overwhelming task of selecting a university to attend, you drifted through piles of flyers and brochures with little clue as to what to care about and what to bypass. But there is one thing we too often forget when organizing our applications: culture.

Too often college students lose themselves in the hustle and bustle of academia, desperately striving for a certain grade or graduate school acceptance, and in the process, completely miss their surroundings.

Well, here’s some advice: Take a look around before it’s too late.

There’s the Stock Show, for example. Although some native Fort Worth residents have since grown disenchanted with it, the truth is that there’s a wealth of both culture and knowledge there, waiting to be tapped. Even the Stockyards can hold something new and exciting for the first 100 times you’ve been there.

But the best part about Fort Worth is that although “cowboy culture” is a prominent feature here, it’s not the only city aspect worth exploring.

Just a short trip down University Drive takes you past – in sequential order – the Fort Worth Zoo, the Botanic Garden, the Modern, the Kimbell Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum.

That’s quite a bit of sightseeing.

Unfortunately, it’s also this sightseeing that a large number of students have never done. Although weekdays present college youth with obvious scheduling problems, weekends too often consist of lying around and accomplishing nothing.

Need motivation? How about the fact that after you graduate, the entry-level job you take will leave you with even less time than you have now? And gentlemen, it’s been said that when done properly, such culture-related plans can make an excellent date.

College is supposed to be the time of your life – go live it.

Sports editor Travis Stewart for the editorial board