Whether you have a mental list or a handwritten list, many people have considered what they want to accomplish before they die. It is commonly categorized under the term, “bucket list.”
With the help of four young men from MTV’s hit television series, “The Buried Life,” people around the world have been fulfilling their lifelong dreams.
In the show, four men have created a list of things they wish to accomplish most in life and attempt to make these dreams a reality. However, instead of simply benefitting themselves, they decided that for every task they cross off their own list, they would help a stranger cross one off their own list. The process is documented on MTV.
Keene State College will host two of the four men from the show on November 14 at 8 p.m. in the Mabel Brown Room. Jonnie Penn and Dave Lingwood will be on campus for a presentation.
Their presentation will be a crowd-involved show, including some multimedia component, a lecture, question and answer time followed by photos and a signing at the conclusion.
Director of Student Involvement, Jennifer Ferrell, described the event as a thoughtful pop culture lecture. She is in charge of all the logistics of the event.
According to Ferrell, bringing this kind of presentation to campus will be something many students can appreciate. “It just gets people to really start thinking about their life and what’s important to them, and I think that’s the coolest thing—is that there’s sort of an underlying message,” Ferrell said.
Aside from the excitement of being able to meet famous MTV stars, Ferrell said many KSC students will be able to relate to the event.
“I really think that it’s really relevant. Those topical areas are things that our students are interested in. We have such a nice campus culture, our students have a really enthusiastic and engaging feeling around things like community service, civic engagement, being good citizens and being involved, that I thought why not bring in something that makes students want to be even more reflective?” Ferrell said.
Ferrell’s student assistant, KSC junior Chelsea Harris, worked closely with Ferrell in picking these events.
“We looked at massive lists of performers, actors and speakers and they just kept coming to the top of my list,” Harris said.
When deciding what types of events to bring to campus, Ferrell and Harris said they tried to consider the overall interest of the entire student population.
According to Harris, they have received a great deal of positive feedback from students regarding their decision. Harris noted this amount of positive feedback does not happen often.
Harris said typically there is some type of negativity, but this time she shared that the comments have been all positive. KSC sophomore, Lindsey Melanson, is familiar with the show and said that she is looking forward to attending the event.
“I think it’s really cool that Keene State has the ability to bring things like this to us, it’s a really great opportunity. A lot of people from other schools are coming too,” Melanson said.
Melanson also added that she believes the event will be well-attended because she has heard a lot of talk about students being excited to be a part of it.
The importance of bringing this kind of event to campus, in the eyes of Ferrell, is for students to take a break from the commotion of their own lives and consider what is really valued in life.
“What I think they’ll bring is an opportunity for students to stop and reflect on their own lives and to help put into perspective what’s important. We get so wrapped up in our day-to-day stuff that we don’t step back and zoom out and look at the bigger picture and ask ‘why am I doing these things, what’s important to me, what should I really be concerned about?’” Ferrell said.
Harris expressed high expectations for the event and said she hopes it “really causes students to stop and think.”
“I hope it brings an overall good feeling, and just kind of the sense that you can step outside your boundaries and do your wildest dreams,” Harris said.
Sabrina Lapointe can be contacted at slapointe@keene-equinox.com