When I toured UC Irvine (now my alma mater) as an 18-year-old high school senior trying to decide where to go to college, I got to visit the dorms with Rameen, a junior who was working part-time with the housing office. There’s a reason I remember him. Rameen had found his passion—working in a college environment—and he was pursuing it to the fullest. Once I became a college freshman, it was pretty clear that you couldn’t turn around on the UCI campus without bumping into Rameen.

When I attended UCI’s student orientation program, Rameen was one of the volunteers. He was also a resident advisor. He worked at the student bookstore. He interned at the Student Development Office, took a summer internship in DC, was active in his fraternity, and played intramural sports. This guy was everywhere. And you can imagine what his resume looked like when his time in college came to a close.

It didn’t surprise anybody who knew him that after graduation, Rameen went on to get a master’s in public administration and a PhD in higher education administration, with collegiate jobs in student affairs at several colleges along the way.

Today, Rameen is back at UCI…as the Dean of Students and a Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs. He is now directing virtually all of the programs in which he worked or volunteered as a student in college.

Your time in college will be short. And it should involve plenty of fun, friends, road trips, or any other (safe) way you choose to enjoy life surrounded by fellow 18- to 22-year-olds.

But you’ll also be given unprecedented access to opportunities for learning, growth, and responsibility. Where else can you learn and try just about anything that interests you? Where else can you find mentors whose job it is to guide those who want to be guided? Where else can you be put in charge with little to no experience?

Rameen is an example of someone who recognized this. He didn’t sit back and do the bare minimum. He didn’t assume that the world would reward him with his dream job just because he’d gotten a college degree. Rameen used his time in college not only to find his calling, but also to start chasing it. At the end of each academic year, Rameen made sure to have something to show for his time spent there. Four years of that kind of attitude and effort add up.

College may or may not be the time that you find and/or pursue what will become your life’s work. But treat that time as your college life’s work. College isn’t going to come back. There’s no do-over. So what will you have to show for it beyond just doing what was required of you? Will you be able to look back and say that you made use of what was available to you? Are you willing to do your part to extract the maximum value from your four short years?

If you act as if your time in college is both temporary and invaluable, those four years of attitude and effort will add up.