Senior year of college is what I like to call ‘the year of nostalgia’. You’re so involved with the emotions that come with experiencing moments of “this is the last time I am ever going to…” that sometimes, you forget to live in the present. I’ll be the first person to admit that I love reminiscing about the past, and being in my senior year of college isn’t helping that in any way. Before school started, I made a mental list of all of the things I was going to set out to accomplish this year, as a sort of “last hurrah.”
For anyone reading this article, I would like to inform you that this isn’t a story about how I’m on an epic journey to check off every item on my mental list of ‘things to do in my senior year before I graduate.’ In fact, this is a story about how I’m not even a full month into my second to last semester, and I haven’t checked off one activity on my list.
1. Buy football tickets
It was over before it even began. I forgot about the purchasing date completely. I didn’t even know that there were different dates for upperclassmen and lowerclassmen to buy their tickets. Me being me, I got on to buy my tickets during the lowerclassmen slot. Enough said.
1.5 Go to a football game
The most prevalent item on my list was to go to a Badger football game. I know the season is still in full swing, and I can buy a ticket at any time because someone is always selling. But seeing as I’m currently in a play, I spend every waking moment that I’m not in class or rehearsal doing homework. Unfortunately, there will be no games for me this season.
2. First day of school throwback picture post
How many seniors’ first day of school were so busy that they didn’t have time to take a first day of school photo? It’s a societal norm, as a senior in college, to pair your current first day of school photo with a throwback photo of your first day of kindergarten — that didn’t happen.
3. Signed up for all of my classes on time
Being waitlisted is the honest to goodness worst thing in the entire world, especially when you’re senior. You would think by this point that your status alone should be enough to get you into the last couple of classes you need to graduate. But low and behold, the world sometimes is very much against making that happen. My brother Grant, who just started his freshman year here, had a fully fleshed out schedule before me — and he didn’t sign up for classes until August. I was waitlisted for a class up until the first week of school, and until then, was only registered to take 11 credits (that isn’t even full-time student status.)
4. Work out three times a week
First of all, I would just like to say that I tried. It’s really hard getting back into a workout routine when you haven’t been on one since senior year of high school. Self-motivation is hard. I was so sore after my first workout that I hardly got any sleep when I went to bed that evening. I haven’t been back to the gym since.
Because it is only the beginning of the school year, I have also comprised a list of events that I most definitely should attend, seeing as it’s my last year. Since I haven’t attended any of these events in the three years and two summers that I have spent in Madison thus far, I’m not too hopeful that I will follow through with them in the eight months I have left — I’m just being honest.
5. Go to the Nitty Gritty for my birthday (October 5th)
I can’t…I’m in a play remember? I have rehearsal.
6. Go to Freakfest
Okay, if there was a band that I liked, sure, why not? But let’s be honest, I’d basically be paying money to wear a costume and walk around State Street when it’s freezing outside. Skip it.
7. Go to the homecoming parade (or any other homecoming-related activities)
Listen, I just don’t think that homecoming here at UW is as big of a deal as it was in high school (which is saying a lot because our school has a TON of pride), and high school is totally overrated.
8. Mifflin
It has rained every single year since I have been here. Dare I get my hopes up this year?
9. Attend a sports game
It’s just football season all over again. We all know that I’m going to miss the purchasing date or time.
10. Go to the bars
This has been a conscious decision. I just don’t think that I am cut out for the bar life. Plus, I’d really prefer not to subject myself to drunk college guys.
11. Pull an all-nighter
Honestly, I just really like sleeping.
I love going to UW-Madison, which is why this last year here is going to be a tough one to get through. What can I say — I’m a nerd, and I love school. Not to mention, the idea of knowing that I have to be a fully-fledged adult by mid-May is terrifying. I know that in the years following my graduation, I will constantly reminisce about my college years. Though I may not have done all of the UW-Madison “musts,”, it doesn’t mean that everything else I experienced was a bust. My experiences are unique to me, and that’s what makes them so special. So, here’s to one last year at UW-Madison — doing exactly what I love to do!