So it turns out there are certain expectations that come along with being a senior in college. A certain level of maturity should be reached by my age, the mastered ability to balance a social life with passing classes, oh right and that big one: the understanding that I’m expected to graduate this year.
I guess I’ve always known in the back of my head that at some point I would need to graduate, but to me, May of 2011 always had this far away feeling to it. In fact, up until the other day it was still considered a ways away to me.
At the time of my writing this, I’m 35,000 feet in the air on the way back from a journalism convention in California. I’ve only experienced a few moments in my life that I can look back on and say they truly had a large impact on me, and this was one of them.
It’s usually after a life changing experience that we sit down and truly take notice of the things we have in life. Personally, this look back on my time in California brought me to thinking about my future. Turns out it’s a lot closer than I thought.
I’ve now returned from the last “Spring Break” of my life and realize perhaps I haven’t been taking complete advantage of my time in college. I find this to be the situation with a lot of graduating seniors. The finish line is finally in reach but we realize we don’t really want to be reaching it yet.
My trip is very similar to college in that regardless of how much sight seeing or learning I did, I can look back and say I wish I could have done more. I wish I’d seen a Clippers game, I wish I’d gotten a chance to go to more clubs, I wish I’d had a couple more days to just walk and see where I ended up. Not until stepping onto the plane though did these realizations hit me smack in the face.
If any seniors reading this column ask themselves, “Could I have done more to enjoy my time in college?” chances are they’ll say yes. For me I wish I’d done more things that I could look back on and say, “Wow, remember when we did this?”
As graduation creeps up on all of us, one thing I’ve been making to ensure my last few weeks are memorable is a Keene State College bucket list — things I want to do that are Keene related before I (hopefully) accept my diploma at graduation. So ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, in no particular order, I present my KSC bucket list…that is the things on the list we’re allowed to publish in a newspaper.
Climb Mount Monadnock: I know, I know, “Mike how have you gone to school at Keene and not climbed Mount Monadnock?” Well the easy answer is that I’m lazy. More than that though is I haven’t had an opportunity. Climbing Monadnock is something of a right of passage for students at KSC, and I wouldn’t feel right graduating without doing it.
Drive my car down Appian Way: Of all the things on my bucket list I think this may be the most difficult one to accomplish solely based on the fact that it’s sure to piss Campus Safety off. Since their job is already difficult enough, I do feel bad about adding to their workload, but seriously campus po, a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do.
Buy a drink at every bar in Keene: I, like all college students, have done my share of drinking. Not until I was 21 though did I start doing so at bars. Having just turned 22 it’s time for me to expand my horizons. For a town as quaint as Keene, there are a surprising amount of bars. I want to have a drink in every one. While all on the same night would be impressive, that’s not going to be a requirement.
Step into every building on campus: This one is pretty self-explanatory. Being a journalism major I’m limited in the number of buildings I’ve had to have classes in. I can’t even name most buildings on campus. This one is more out of necessity than anything.
Eat dinner at “Creepers Row” in the DC (with binoculars): For those who don’t know, “Creepers Row” is the upstairs bar in the DC that overlooks the rest of the dining hall. I’m not judging those who eat there (OK, maybe a little), all I’m saying is that having a row of people staring at me from upstairs is creepy. I want to eat there and be the creepiest one. I want to use a pair of binoculars. Will I get banned from the DC? Perhaps. But in my opinion, I’m bringing attention to a larger cause. Creepers row is creepy as hell.
I can’t guarantee success in my endeavors. In fact, I’ll probably be lucky to knock off more than a few, but that’s not the point. The point is that years from now I don’t want to look back on college and think, “man, I wish I did more in college.”
Mike Steiner can be contacted at msteiner@keeneequinox.com
