Entering my final semester of senior year fills me with a lot of different emotions. I'm excited about all the possibilities the future holds after graduation, nervous about whether I’m truly ready to take that next step, and deeply nostalgic for my journey so far. The most important promise I’ve made to myself this year is to savor every moment and create an unforgettable senior year. Back in August, my friends and I came up with the idea of making a senior year bucket list. This became our way of making sure we embraced every experience we wanted to have before this chapter of our lives ends.

The most daunting part of doing this is getting started making a bucket list. My friends and I found ourselves asking, how are we going to fit a whole year worth of experiences into a single list? We wanted to include every tradition, every event, and all the little moments that make senior year special. So, we decided to first make a brainstorm document that our whole friend group had access to. Everyone put in ideas that they thought we needed to include on our list. Once we had a solid idea of what could go on the list, we got a big poster board with some markers. This was the fun part, we made it a night-long activity and it quickly became more than just making a list—it was a fun, memorable night that was a great way to kick off our senior year.

Some of the things we included were classic campus traditions, like attending our school's tailgates and football games. We had spots we wanted to revisit on campus one last time, places that had shaped our college experience. For example, we decided to go back and try every dining hall one last time. Beyond campus, we added adventures in the surrounding towns—new restaurants we had always talked about trying, hikes we wanted to explore, and local events we didn’t want to miss. Finally, we added experiences that our group wanted to do before we graduated. For example, we all planned one last movie night, a Friendsgiving dinner, and a letter writing night to our future selves. We also tried to make it a goal to take pictures at these different events so we could have something to look back on at the end of our year.

Our big list was then put on the side of our fridge, and we checked it off every time we did something on the list. Some moments were big and exciting, while others were simple but just as meaningful. Looking back, creating this bucket list was one of the best decisions we made for our senior year. It has been such a fun way to ensure that we are making the most of our senior year with the friends who have made our college experience what it was. If you're heading into your final year, I can’t recommend it enough—make your own list, embrace the time you have left, and make it a year you’ll never forget.

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