15 Things You HAVE to do Before Graduating College

And yes, I’m writing this as a junior. Am I a college expert? No. Do I know what I will regret not having done in college? No.

But what I DO have is a fabulous college bucket list with my friend! And unlike bucket lists I’ve written in the past, we’re actually checking things off the list, which makes me feel greatly accomplished. Possibly more accomplished than any homework assignment I’ve completed this year…

This is the part where I stop and have an artistic crisis, trying to think of a creative name for that list. “Bucket lists” are so called because they include things you want to accomplish before you kick the bucket (old people’s phrase for “die”). So would the college version be…a walk list? A diploma list? A…

Ugh, I’m out of creative ideas.

ANYWAY, moving on…

So yeah, my friend and I have this great list because this is her senior year and our (admittedly small) college town has a lot to offer, which we didn’t take advantage of as underclassmen because, you know, homework.

Inspired by our list, here are some suggestions for you to build your own college bucket list:

1. Antiquing. Yes, you owe it to yourself to cruise through at least once all the antique stores in your college town. If your college is located in a city, maybe set a maximum number of stores or a maximum radius of a few miles so you don’t spend every weekend in college doing this.

2. Thrift shopping — visit them all at least once and agree with your friends on a ranking. If I need to explain to you why this is necessary, well…sad.

3. That fabulous food chain your besties have never tried before. Force them to.

4. The biggest attraction in town. For us, that’s probably our town’s drive-in movie theater.

5. The biggest attraction in your county.

6. The biggest attraction in your state. You get the idea…

7. Hammocking. Yes, stringing a hammock between two trees somewhere on campus. Is this just a Northwest thing?

8. Do the thrift-shopping-exploration-thing with all the coffee shops and give them a ranking too. Extra points if you can find the snobbiest holes-in-the-wall. But be careful, because this has been known to destroy friendships.

9. Wineries. Oregon is great for this. ‘Nough said.

10. That one crazy museum in your state that you can’t BELIEVE is actually a museum.

11. I’ve just realized that none of these are really on-campus things. But if you’re an upperclassman, why would you want to hang around campus on the weekends?

12. Besties beach trip. Always fun to find out the various expectations people have for a beach trip.

13. Hiking. Because this is the Pacific Northwest, guys. If you don’t hike, why are you even here?

14. The most expensive restaurant in town. Yeah, be a growedup and order off a menu with fancy words you don’t understand. It’s ridiculously satisfying.

15. Go get coffee with a random student. But not in a creepy way.

16. Do something crazy — this is your opportunity to do something you would never do again!