9 things to do in my last semester of college
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The more and more I think about how I’m entering my last semester of college (or try to at least), I’m overwhelmed with all different types of emotions. How’s it going to be? The last semester. The last meal swipe from an underclassmen. The last Saturday morning Broken Yolk. The last Tuesday Night Mass. The last run-in with President Lovell. The last syllabus week. The last mug night. The last time being around friends that have turned into family. The last hurrah.
All this thinking made me want to make this last semester possibly the best one yet. Here are 9 things I want to do in my last semester of college.
- Enjoy the emptying Bradley Center after a Marquette win
We usually don’t realize the beauty that surrounds us every waking day. Relish in the little things.
Opt out of headphones on the way to class. Open the door for the person behind me. Make conversations with people at bus stops. Smile at a stranger. Visit my favorite study spot on campus.
Work in the day you’re living and allow yourself to take pleasure in the seemingly small, but favorite things.
2. Start planning out my book
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Mary Oliver
If you’re able to clearly explain any stage in your life, you’re living poorly. Instead, do things that take your breath away. The idea of writing a book has marinated in my mind recently and seeing my friend Kyle work on his second is inspiring me.
Use your thirst to spend your fire and restless force in tracking out your true, original course. And don’t look back.
3. Don’t sweep embarrassing parts of myself under the rug
In college, I’ve been encouraged to redefine who I am. Marquette’s built a community of people who ignite and become fearless leaders, agile thinkers and effective doers. These are the people who push the norm. This last semester life will be filled with finding new passions, inquiring more and thinking unconventionally.
4. Write down three goals a day
Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Warren Buffet and Phil Batzner. What do these four people have in common? Not much really, but they all support keeping a journal.
Jotting down a few things throughout the day becomes another tool for thinking, expression, and encouraging creativity.
5. Say thanks for another day being alive
There’s other times in the year to be thankful besides Thanksgiving. As I’m falling asleep I find a few things I’m thankful for. Then, as the day comes to an end — reflect.
As each day comes to us refreshed and anew, so should your gratitude renew itself daily.
6. Put the dang phone down. Now
Disconnect from technology for 1 hour a day — no Snapchats, Instagrams, emails, texting, etc.
I hope to spend some time with myself to get to know myself better and engage more with friends and the world around me. The world and people around us won’t be here forever, but technology will.
7. Make a new friend every week
Talk to that person next to you in class. Ask a group you don’t know if you can sit with them for lunch. Or even introduce yourself to someone you’ve always wanted to meet.
8. Become lost in my hometown
If you knew me, you know I love MKE after growing up here my entire life. I’ve written a love letter to the city. Follow me on Instagram and you’ll see me post some city photos from time to time.
We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.
Sometimes getting lost is a stroke of luck and new way to find yourself.
9. Fail an exam, assignment or project
The society we compete in has brainwashed us into thinking we have to be the next best thing. As I’m about to leave the comfort zone I’ve fostered over the last 21 years to join a new world completely on my own, before then I want to fail. As a 4.0 student and frequent visitor of the Dean’s List, failure is something abnormal for me.
I want to know what it feels like to hit rock bottom and struggle to climb out of this hole. I don’t want things “made for me” or to have an “easy life.” I desire to be challenged and know what it means to fail, so I can grow, learn and better myself from these experiences.
