I have a really quick question for the readers out there: Does anyone have a solid handle on how time works? If so, could you please explain it to me? The fact that it’s summer 2012, meaning I am now halfway done with college, makes about as much sense to me as Inception did the first three times I saw it (by the fourth time, however, I was willing to go to the bank on the fact that the totem wasn’t going to fall over).
There is just so much going on at Rochester that even being the insanely over-involved person I am does not in any way guarantee I’ll get to experience everything I want to experience before graduating.
Before I prematurely freak myself out, though, I should remember that I do still have two more years here (only 1.5 if I decide to study abroad next spring . . .). So I’m going to take this opportunity to make a bucket list, and immortalize it on this blog, in writing, where I can refer back to it while I still actually have a decent amount of time left in my college years. Hopefully I won’t have to skip all of my classes in the spring of 2014 just to check things off this list. Kidding (sort of).
- Take a road trip to Toronto for a weekend with my friends
- Partake in the annual pillow fight on the quad at the end of classes
- Go to a guest lecture that has nothing to do with anything I’m studying, but just looks interesting
- Go to the Memorial Art Gallery for brunch with my friends (I’ve gone with my family, but I think it would be really fun to get all dressed up for a classy brunch at the University’s museum with my friends)
- Attend a home sporting event. ANY sporting event. People don’t frequently do that around here, but it just seems like something you should do to support your school.
- See what the Eastman dorms look like (I can’t really explain my need to do this, other than the fact that I have a fascination with Eastman students)
- Go to the Rochester Museum & Science Center
- Go to the Mees Observatory
- Take day trips to the surrounding cities, like Buffalo, Ithaca, Syracuse, and Chimney Bluffs
- Go to the beaches at Lake Ontario
There will be many more things added to that list, but I’ll leave it at that for now. I do take solace in the fact that when I got here as a freshman, I started a mental bucket list and I have actually managed to do many of those things, such as:
- Go to the top of Rush Rhees
- Take a boat ride on the Genesee
- Get coffee at Java’s
- Attend an Eastman performance
- Attend a Rochester Philharmonic performance
- Eat at Dinosaur BBQ
- Find Frederick Douglass’s and Susan B. Anthony’s graves in Mount Hope Cemetery
- Climb to the top of the Erie Canal locks (though there are no signs prohibiting anyone from doing this, the legality of it is questionable, so I’ll have to get back to you on that one)
- Eat dinner on Park Ave.
- Have tea at La-Tea-Da/get late-night cupcakes from Sugar Mountain Bake Shoppe
- Visit High Falls
- Paint the tunnels on campus
There are more adventures that I’ve embarked on than just those 12, but I think you get the idea. You will also notice that getting a garbage plate at Nick Tahou’s is NOT on either of these lists, because I think garbage plates are disgusting and I don’t understand why that is an unofficial graduation requirement.
Something I’ve noticed is that my own personal Rochester to-do list is very different from some of my friends’, which is pretty interesting, albeit unsurprising. At a school where everyone is at liberty to forge his or her own path academically, it makes sense that we would also want to forge our own paths in the form of off-campus adventures.
It’s summer now, so this whole bucket list/to-do list thing is on hold, but, honestly, even though I’m excited to have a little break from homework, tests, problem sets, etc., I really can’t wait to get back to school so I can pick up where I left off on my list.