I’m sure that you’ve all heard of the Bucket List. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, it is as a list of things you want to do before you die or before you ‘kick the bucket’. Alternatively, it is a list of things you want to do before you leave a place. Such is the thought behind the Fourth Year Bucket List. I know a few people who have made these lists, mainly so that they stay on track and manage to do all the things that are considered an essential part of the undergraduate experience. Every year, Western’s student newspaper The Gazette posts a list of 50 Things to Do Before You Graduate. I’ve done a number of things on this list. Some of the highlights:
- Tray-bogoning down UC Hill
- Win a round of Sledgehammer Bingo at The Ceeps. I’ve never won myself, but I’ve benefitted from being at a table that won the family size poutine.
- Go to Rick’s night at The Spoke
- Go see a Friday night Cult Classic at the UCC theatre
- Complete The Spoke Beer Tour. See above photo. Realize it was taken on the closing night of Movember. I didn’t break any records, but I did impress my friends.
- Get kicked off RezNet for downloading too much data. This was inevitable in the days when every March Madness game could be streamed online. Anyway, I was only given a warning.
There are some good ideas on the list, certainly, but there are other things that I wish never to do. I already spend enough time at Weldon. I don’t need to arrange a Periodicals sleepover. I don’t wear sweatpants in public. You aren’t going to see me going to class in pyjamas. And don’t even get me started on the ‘Festern Wucked Your Mom’ t-shirts. In light of the list’s shortcomings, and Western’s Homecoming tomorrow, I’ve decided to share a list of my own.
The Fourth Year Bucket List
- Go to a kegger where I don’t know anyone. I actually did this on St. Patrick’s Day in first year. The only people I knew were the four people I arrived with, and I lost them after a few minutes. The day went well because strangers like me (and like my bandanas).
- Do karaoke at one of the many karaoke nights at the bars in the area. I’ve avoided karaoke nights for years, but I know this has to happen.
- Win a costume contest. This has actually been a dream of mine since I lost the grade six Halloween contest with my Elvis costume. This year, it’s happening.
- Go on a double date. Clara gave me this idea, because she said that university seems like the time when this should happen. In an Archie Andrews world, we would go out for milkshakes.
- End up in a presidential campaign. Election season is a big deal at Western. In the last few years, candidates have put out increasingly elaborate campaign videos that make it seem like they know everyone who’s everyone. I once spotted a close friend of mine in one of these videos. He happened to be the only one who wasn’t smiling. I immediately decided that was the campaign I had to support.
- Go to a bar and use an accent for an entire night. This was Erica’s idea, so of course she has to do it with me.
- Go to an engineering party when people are being dyed purple. This is basically the dream of every non-engineer. Please help me to make this happen.
- Ride the bus from one end of a route to the other. I’ll be sure to document the experience.
- Go to a late night diner and eat something ridiculous, like the chili cheese fries in the above picture. Prince Albert’s Diner is one of the essential places for late night food in London.
- Play one final round of the Pokemon Drinking Game. Absolutely necessary.
These are just a few of the things on my list. There are also some things I would like to do before I graduate, but for various reasons I know they’re not going to happen. First among them: Go rafting down the Thames River. This has been a dream on mine since first year, in part because I’ve always had this Huckleberry Finn ideal in mind when it comes to rafting, but there are a few things keeping me living my dream. First and foremost, I don’t have a raft. Second, I don’t know anyone crazy enough to go with me. Third, the river tends to be cold, swift and rocky. This is a bad idea in general. I’ll just need to head to the Mississippi to live out my Huck Finn dream. Another thing that I am unlikely to actually do is go to a frat party, mainly because I know a grand total of two guys in fraternities. It’s probably for the best that I don’t go to a frat party, because I would just be disappointed if it wasn’t like a scene out of Animal House. I’ve already told you that I’m not getting on the mechanical bull, so everyone will have to cross that off any list they plan to make for me. And finally, I’ve decided that I shouldn’t run for University Students’ Council President, because while I would love the networking part of it and would enjoy sitting at the head of a table, I have no political inclinations and probably wouldn’t make a very good president. I’d be better off being one of the smiling (or unsmiling, in the case of my friend) students in a choreographed campaign dance routine.
What is — or was — on your university Bucket List and what should I add to my list?
Song of the Day: Pompeii by Bastille
Happy Homecoming Western!
