This year, we’ve asked three girls–Crystal, Anya and Lexi to create a Bucket List and update us on their progress over the course of the year. We are happy start off the series with Crystal’s Bucket List and her first update!
Crystal’s List
1. Run the entirety of the Mass Ave bridge without stopping (for the second time).
2. Successfully bake a lemon cheesecake with blueberry ganache (long story).
3. Go to a concert at the House of Blues OR go to a poetry slam at the Lizard Lounge.
4. Perform a song at an open mic in Boston.
Check out Crystal’s first update on the next page!
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Just. Keep.Running
When I first moved to Boston as a starry-eyed freshman in Fall 2010, I was immediately tickled when I realized that people actually run–passionately, at that–up and down these New England streets as though Commonwealth Avenue were an Olympic track design especially for undergraduates. Of my varied hats and roles, athlete was certainly not among them. I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Am I escaping a burning building?” No. Then running is thoroughly inappropriate.
But that was then.
Since then my interests and passions have sharpened, tremendously. So has my understanding of what it means to have a successful and healthy undergraduate experience. Balance is the golden key to staying afloat in these hectic 4 years of our lives, and I think that emotional health and balance make for a very happy collegiette! Through discovering my inner runner, I have also unleashed a side of myself I did not even know existed. When I finally started running, my self-confidence began to grow, and so did my self-worth. I thought, If I can just make it to that tree down the block without stopping, then I have succeeded; If I can just run for 3 blocks without stopping, I will know that I have improved and I am better than I was yesterday; If I push myself and run around the park for 5 laps, then I am making strides toward greater self-improvement; If I can run across this whole bridge without stopping, then I am unstoppable.
Needless to say, my first attempt to run across the whole Mass Ave Bridge failed; my lungs rivaled the Sahara in dryness and I all but collapsed in a sorry heap midway through. Ever the optimist, I refused to give up. I ran the entire bridge for the first time last semester with great effort, but I put it on my bucket list for this semester to push myself again, just to make sure my first time was not a fluke. As collegiettes we are always on the move, but we face all kinds of obstacles, like this bridge. We just have to maintain the same can-do attitude about every challenge we face as undergrads. No one said this college thing would be easy, but we have to stay afloat and stay positive. We must find something that frees us, some activity that pushes us 3 zip codes from our comfort zone, and so far outside the norm that we forget what “average” smells like. Beyond that, we must strive to be better, kinder, wiser, and above all happier well-rounded versions of ourselves once we leave this place. I can’t help but hear Dori’s voice in my head saying, “Just keep swimming swimming swimming!” In the broader sense, just keep trying, just keep growing, and never let the fear of failure limit your true potential. I found my release, and confidence, in running and especially in running the whole Mass Ave bridge the second time around. Find what thrills you, what makes you come alive, and never give up in your pursuit of it! Always persevere, and run the extra mile because you’ll go farther than you ever thought possible.
Peace, Love and Nemo.
Crystal-Angelee Burrell.
Photo by Crystal Burrell.