Bucket List: “a list of the experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime. A bucket list is an itemized list of goals people want to accomplish before they ‘kick the bucket’ — or die.”
Growing up, I thought a bucket list had to be filled with unattainable tasks or had to be life-threatening. The first thing that always comes to mind is skydiving (I personally will never skydive because I’m terrified of heights). Although feelings such as adrenaline and thrill may be commonly associated with a bucket list, I’ve come to realize that the beauty of it all is that it doesn’t have to entail anything like that in the slightest.
After finishing my junior year, I went down a rabbit hole of recounting my entire college experience here at Cal. My memories are spotted with late-night sweet treats on the busy streets of Telegraph or the breathtaking sunsets of the bay, and although I have these experiences, I soon realized that there were quite a few things that I still haven’t done as the “typical” Berkeley student. And I couldn’t graduate without hitting those so-called milestones. Although I had originally intended to begin checking off these boxes at the beginning of the fall semester, that didn’t happen. Instead, I only drew my first checkmark during summer. Unexpectedly, things on my list started to appear on my most normal days. It was perfect — almost too perfect. And to me, it felt like such a waste of an opportunity to not do something I’ve always wanted to do for the sake that it had to be the “right” time. So here are my collective reflections on my completed and uncompleted bucket list…