Make a (College) Bucket List

It is nine days until graduation and I have not completed everything on my UGA bucket list. Here it is:

Luckily, I will be sticking around Athens for another month or so and I am determined to check at least a couple more things off my list. 

Don’t end up like me desperately trying to fulfill a goal with not enough time left. Make a bucket list of everything you want to do before you graduate. Make it with your friends so you have partners in crime and enough stories to eventually bore your grand kids  Write it down! You are more likely to do something if you write it down. That’s science. Laminate the sucker if it means you are more likely to accomplish everything you want to!

Now, if you are unsure of what you want to write down, I’ll share with you everything I included on my bucket list. Some are age-old UGA traditions and some are just personal goals I set for myself. Either way, they may inspire you to jot down a bucket list of your own.

1. Sit in the student section at a football game. Now this may seem odd, but you would be surprised how many times you get roped into sitting at the very tippy top of Sanford stadium with the fraternity boys. Sit in the student section! It is so much more fun and I wish I had done it more often!
2. Go see a movie at Ciné.
3. Go to a Gym Dogs meet. Ten.Time.National.Champions. That is all.
4. Eat at ECV (dining hall) for dinner as a senior. You will appreciate it so much more once you have been cooking for yourself for a while. 
5. Ring the Chapel Bell. Get an A? Get a job? Finally talk to that boy in bio? Let Athens know!
6. Go to a lecture at the Chapel. They happen a lot. Check UGA's Master Calendar.
7. Complete a Pauley's Beer Card. Like beer? Go for it! I, sadly, never did.
8. Hang out on North Campus on a nice day! Have you seen how beautiful North Campus is?
9. Go to Terrapin.  A great thing to do once you turn 21! 
10. Experience the Athens Twilight Criterium. It's like a football game...in the spring...with bicycles.
11. Go to a show at the Georgia Theatre.
12. Get breakfast at Mama's Boy. You will have to wait in line. But it's worth it.
13. Enjoy downtown in the daytime. Yes, there are things to do downtown in the bright light of day.
14. Go to a UGA Theatre performance. Macbeth? Chicago? Yes, please!
15. Go to the Georgia Museum of Art.
16. Visit the Georgia State Botanical Garden. A great place to go for a run!
17. Go on a GORP trip. Another thing I wish I had done. Check it out for your PE requirement!
18. Kayak down the Broad River. An incredibly fun day trip for the summer.
19. Go to Ath Fest.
20. Eat at every restaurant downtown. I will probably miss Athens' restaurants the most.
21. Get a picture with Uga or Hairy Dawg.
22. Go between the Hedges during a game.
23. Enjoy late night Snelling. AKA Snellebration.
24. GO TO GEORGIA/FLORIDA. I cannot stress this one enough.
25. Study or volunteer abroad! I went to South Africa with International Student Volunteers. Best decision of my life (aside from coming to UGA, of course).
26. Go to UGA night at Six Flags.
27. Go to the Great Southland Stampede Rodeo.
28. Get ice cream at the UGA Creamery.
29. See the Tree that Owns Itself
30. Go to the Homecoming game. Seeing the cute little old male cheerleaders is just a bonus.
31. Tailgate on Myers Quad.
32. Go to Dawgs after Dark.
33. Play an intramural sport.
34. Watch a quidditch match on Myers Quad. This is real.
35. Take pictures with the bulldogs around Athens.
36. Spend a summer in Athens.
37. Walk under the Arch! But not until you have graduated!

I know everyone says to cherish your time in college because it goes by so fast. But you will not really appreciate the truth of that statement until it's your turn to graduate and leave Athens. So let me give you some advice. Don't worry too much about the future. You are not just at UGA to get a degree. You are also here to get an education; the kind of education that comes from the people and the town around you as well as the pile of books on your desk. Don't take those people and this amazing town for granted. How can you do that? Make a college bucket list and make sure you are checking things off and adding to it as much as you can. Because it will be nine days until graduation before you know it.