It’s that time of the year when we’re all getting ready to bid the semester goodbye. Awaiting us are breezy warm weather, a summer bursting with potential, new experiences, and, for some, the end of our undergrad. We have 10 more days until the last day of class, and everyone seems to be scrambling to make the semester a memorable one.
It’s no wonder. I’m pretty sure we all want to feel like we’ve accomplished something this school year, be it academic, inspirational, or quirky. So we asked a few students on campus for a peek at their bucket lists.
Sara di Poce, a third-year student studying Italian and women and gender studies, would like to, “be able to read the chicken scratch notes on my papers from the TAs”, as she put it.
Bianca Marchione, a varsity rugby player, is in her final year of chemistry with a double minor in biology and Italian. Excited to be graduating in the spring, Marchione would like to dump-tackle chemistry professor Patrick Gunning before the end of the semester.
Iyarusalem Biftu, a third-year student specializing in criminology and sociolegal studies, would like to do two things before the end of the semester: complete a five-kilometre run through Erindale Park, and try a macaroon from one of the fancy downtown cafés.
Shaleeza Gordon, a third-year psychology major, would like to have more than six hours of sleep before the end of the semester. I think we can all agree with Gordon on this one, although how likely it is with exams coming up is hard to tell.
Faiza Anam, a fourth-year biochemistry specialist, says that before she dons her graduation gown this spring, she wants to do “reasonably impulsive things”.
Her list is quite thorough, in fact. She wants to experience UTM—all of it, not just the parts we have to experience between classes. She wants to see the greenhouse in the Davis Building. Take a dip in the pond (and not get caught). Be gutsy enough to tell one of her professors how much they have made an impact on her, try out every smoothie flavour from Booster Juice, read a good book while sitting among the library shelves, and, if it’s sunny enough, to do homework in the middle of a green field on campus and look like one of those students on the promotional materials that universities hand out.
Laasya Annadevara, a fourth-year accounting specialist also gearing up to leave the bubble that is undergraduate life, would like to take memorable selfies in two strategic locations. The first selfie in front of the famous $1 million rock pile and the second under the giant speech bubble in Davis (yes, this exists). Obviously, a tiring day of being the queen of selfies warrants time to relax, so the last thing she wants to do before she leaves university is to have a picnic in Erindale Park.
So for what’s left of the semester, before you stash your notes away and price your textbooks for sale, before you spend the final dollars of your meal plan and plan for long days in the sun, take some time and write down one thing you want to accomplish. From thanking a professor for helping you with a course to counting how many Boundless banners there are on campus, or maybe even discovering the mythical underground tunnel for yourself, pick something and make that your “I was here” stamp for the year about to pass.
