By Sarah Hansell, Staff Writer -- hansell14@up.edu
Skydiving. Bungee jumping. Traveling to the opposite end of the world.
These are some of the crazy things that people put on their bucket lists, lists of things that people want to do before they die.
UP has its own bucket list for students to fulfill, which includes 25 things you should do on The Bluff and in Portland before graduation. It was a project of the Student Alumni Association and came out in the spring of 2009. The association got the idea from "tradition books" that bigger colleges have, and decided to start with a poster.
"We thought perhaps doing a list on a poster would be a good way to get started with the idea," Kristen Bryant, special projects coordinator at UP, said.
The Student Alumni Association got ideas from Facebook and alumni websites, and posted polls so people could vote on which things they wanted to be included.
"We let people vote on what they thought were the best things to do," Bryant said.
The product of this is the UP bucket list poster that you can find in the Shepard Freshman Resource Center today.
"Having a bucket list kind of forces people to go around and see things you wouldn't think about otherwise, and do things, and go out of your comfort zone," senior Jasonn Hannibal, who has completed 19 of the 25 things on the list, said.
Sophomore Jake Midtlyng, who started checking off items from the poster when he found out that he'd done many of them already, has completed 22 of the 25 things on the poster.
"I think that it's a good way to get around," Midtlyng said. "It's like something you can do in the moment."
Hannibal discovered the list during the spring semester of his sophomore year when he was trying to write his own list of things to do before he graduated.
"Everyone always tries to think of a list of things to do before they graduate," Hannibal said. "But then I came across the poster, and I was like, ‘This is perfect.'"
The UP bucket list has UP-specific activities, including participating in social events such as seeing a play at Mago Hunt Theatre and attending Munchie Madness before finals week.
It also includes activities designed to enrich students' academic experiences at UP, such as meeting alumni who share the students' major, at a Student Alumni Association event and getting to know professors outside of class.
"You kind of feel distant from teachers because you use them to learn, but if you get to know them they're actually pretty cool," Hannibal said.
The list includes more than UP-oriented activities. There are also things that encourage the exploration of the diverse and vibrant city of Portland, such as trying the purple Grape Ape donut from Voodoo Doughnut or exploring Powell's Books in the Pearl District.
Midtlyng's favorite thing on the list is eating the large calzone at Nicola's.
"I ate the five-pound calzone in like 30 minutes," Midtlyng said.
If anything could be added to UP's bucket list, Hannibal thinks it should be something that involves meeting people.
"One thing I've noticed about people at our school is that they're kind of shy," Hannibal said. "Part of me thinks that (the bucket list) has to have a component where you have to meet people at school."
25 Things to Do Before You Graduate
- Attend a Student Alumni Association event and meet an alumnus from your major. (Etiquette Dinner, Easter egg Hunt, Alumni Discussion Panels, Dinner with Strangers…)
- Paint your face purple and make some noise with the Drum Squad at a UP soccer game.
- Get competitive or just have fun on a UP intramural or club sports team.
- Scope out UP starts at a Mago Hunt Theatre production.
- Catch a street performance while searching for unique artistic treasures at the Portland Saturday Market.
- Explore the Pearl District, from Powell's Books to Jamison Square Park.
- Cheer the Pilots to victory from the student section and win a free pizza at half-time at a UP basketball game.
- Pay it forward…see how good it feels to help someone by volunteering with the Moreau Center for Service and Leadership.
- Get a free caffeine buzz before your evening class at Espresso UP.
- Be a date, buy a date, or just sit back and watch the fun at the Villa Man Auction.
- Meet friends for food and fun at the T Room (Twilight Room). (21 and over only after 9:00 p.m.)
- Get to know one of your professors outside of class.
- Catch a free CPB flick in BC Aud.
- Dance the night away as you float down the Willamette River on the Portland Spirit at the River Run Dance.
- Try a purple Grape Ape doughnut at VooDoo Doughtnuts.
- Pick a decade, dress to the T, and get a blast from the past at the Dance of the Decades.
- Build a sandcastle at the Oregon Coast. (You can check out the Tillamook Cheese Factory while you're there!)
- Savor the world's largest calzone — try ordering a large, we dare you — at Nicola's Pizza.
- Put off your term project and soak up the sunshine on a campus lawn.
- Wander NW 23rd on a sunny afternoon and stop in at Papa Haydn's for dessert. (Sunny days occur more often than you might think!)
- Take MAX to Pioneer Courthouse Square and explore downtown Portland.
- Rent a bike form the UP bike shop and explore the hidden corners of St. Johns.
- Sample some late night Cajun cuisine — alligator, anyone? — at Montage. (Be sure to get your leftovers wrapped in a special surprise…)
- Do some star watching at OMSI Planetarium.
- Give your brain a study break before finals week at Munchie Madness.
