Students at Northern have a variety of choices when it comes to activities and entertainment, yet not enough students engage in the intellectual presentations offered on campus.

The psychology department is currently sponsoring a colloquium series with topics ranging from how zebrafish can help psychologists identify and understand memory traces, so a correlation between sleep and storing memory can be made.

While intellectual discussions such as this can seem intimidating, students should take advantage of these opportunities to go outside of their comfort zone.

Challenge yourself and learn something new and amazing.

Every department offers a wealth of enriching and engaging events. Every semester, English graduate students have a thesis defense — a project graduate students spend years developing — that the public can attend.

The biology department just brought Taras Oleksyk on Thursday, Jan. 24, who discussed the things humans can learn about biology after nuclear events, such as Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi.

These speakers offer academic insight and perspective, which is hard to come by outside of a university environment.

Most students spend four to five years obtaining a degree, and some never take full advantage of these educational opportunities.

Although courses and homework can be burdensome, take the time to learn outside of the classroom.

Instead of hitting the bars on a Thursday evening, check the academic calendar and see what is happening on campus. Unwind with a fruitful discussion instead of a fruity-tasting drink.

Give your brain the attention it deserves.

After all, you came to NMU for an education.

Don’t deny yourself a new, enlightening experience.

Use your free time to think instead of drink because you can always go to the bar, but you rarely get the opportunity to raise it.