My Final Post

When I chose to make a bucket list as my passion blog, I didn’t expect to make a list of everything that I hope to do or achieve. That was never the goal, and realistically I wrote about a pretty small portion of the things that I hope and dream of doing at some point in my life. Rather, my goal was just to explore the things that I am passionate about, and to think and write about a few of the things that I hope to eventually accomplish or be able to do.

More than anything, I think that I have realized that you really can’t live your entire life as a to-do list, checking things off as you go along and making a point to complete each task. As I continue to grow up, my hopes and aspirations will surely change and evolve as I do, and in turn I imagine so will the things that I hope to achieve in my life, the things I hope to do before I die.

So yes, at present, the things on my bucket list are all things that I dream of doing some day. However, there’s a good chance that I won’t complete them all, and that doesn’t bother me. As I get older, there will surely be new and different things that I dream of doing, while at the same time, I may not have any interest in doing everything on my list right now. I’ve come to believe that the best bucket list item that anyone can have is just to appreciate each day as it comes, and to always stay positive work toward your goals. Athough my dreams and goals may change, the most important thing is just to stay true to myself and simply do what that makes me happy.

#23: Participate in a Triathlon

As I’m sure I’ve said before, I’ve never really been known for being super athletic, or even slightly athletic for that matter. Nevertheless, I enjoy running and exercising for the simple fact that I like being healthy. Not to mention the fact that it helps me de-stress, and with finals just around the corner, I could all the de-stressing I can get.

triathlon

So I have recently decided to make it another goal of mine to eventually get into good enough shape to complete a triathlon. A triathlon is a three sport competition, that normally involves swimming, biking, and running in immediate succession. When I first started looking into what is takes to train for a triathlon, I immediately assumed that you’d have to be in absolutely extraordinary shape to take part in one. And I was probably right – they definitely don’t look easy, and I’m certainly not in good enough shape at the present (someday….) However, I found that triathlons exist in varying distances, some certainly easier than others.

According to USA Triathlon, the shortest distance triathlons consist a .25-.62 mile swim, followed by a 5-18.6 mile bike ride, and a 1-3.9 mile run. The longest triathlons consist of 2 mile swim, a 62 mile bike ride, and an 18.6 mile run. So I figure I’ll shoot to finish a short one, or intermediate if I get in really super good shape someday (which is a .63-1.25 mile swim, 18.7-31 mile bike, and 4-8 mile run). But if the long distance doesn’t sound hellish enough for your taste… my roommate told me about this thing called the Ironman Triathlon. It turns out that the Ironman Triathlon includes a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run. I would like to point out that 26.2 miles is a marathon… so that’s running a marathon immediately after swimming almost two and a half miles and biking 112. I still highly doubt whether there are people on this earth actually capable of such a thing… but my roommate claims one of her high school teachers participated… so I guess I’ll take her word for it.

So anyhow, although I may never be in the shape to complete the Ironman Triathlon (and I’m perfectly okay with that and have no desire to), as I’ve said before, there is something really fulfilling in pushing yourself to achieve what you never thought you could, and some day I hope to complete a triathlon, and do just that.

Links:

http://www.usatriathlon.org/about-multisport/disciplines/triathlon.aspx

http://www.ironman.com/#axzz2RL2xmGx9

#22: Find and Support a Cause

Volunteering

At some point in my life, I hope to find a cause that I am truly passionate about, something that I believe in firmly, and something where I am in a position to bring about significant and positive change.

I recognize that I have been very fortunate in life – I am healthy, I have the opportunity to go to college to receive and education and better myself, I live in a relatively safe place, etc. And I also recognize that there are many in this country and around the world, that have been dealt a less favorable hand, and deal with things on a daily basis that I could probably never even imagine, which is why I believe firmly in the importance of giving back and helping those in need.

As a student and as a Penn Stater, giving back is something that I’ve grown up being encouraged to do. Whether through THON, or the many other groups here on campus, it’s really very easy to get involved at Penn State. Personally, I’m a member of Atlas, and although I wasn’t nearly as involved this year as I hope to be in the future, becoming a member of Atlas was one of the best decision I think I made coming to Penn State, and has been a great experience. They’re a really great group of people; the dedication of everyone else involved is really what made me want to do more next year and even after I graduate.

Of course, it’s easier to become more involved and volunteer in college than in the real world, there are so many clubs right here on campus that it really doesn’t take all that terribly much extra effort. But I think it’s important as we get older to remember the importance of staying involved in our communities and doing whatever we can to promote change and make a difference.

In 2011, 64.3 million Americans were involved in some sort of volunteer work, and contributed around 8 billion hours of volunteer work. So it is obvious that Americans continue to become involved throughout their lives, which is something that I hope to continue.

Links:

http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/

http://www.themeritexchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Volunteering.jpg

#21: Go Backpacking

I’ve said similar things in previous posts, but there is a certain freedom in the idea of totally immersing oneself in into a new and different culture, and leaving behind everything familiar for a period of time. Although typical week or two long vacations do offer the opportunity for people to see and experience the world, I imagine that there is a difference between the typical vacation and an extended backpacking trip, where you are more or less forced to experience the culture of wherever it is you are visiting in a more authentic way, not necessarily partaking in the normal mass tourism.

B

I’ve always been interested in seeing the world (as I’ve probably also mentioned before), and I hope to at some point in my life to experience what other places throughout the world are really like, and go beyond the normal touristy site-seeing and hotel-staying. And although I hope to study abroad at some point, I would like to be able to see more of the world than studying abroad allows, and backpacking abroad, or even in the United States for that matter, would offer the perfect opportunity.

Really, there are backpacking trips suitable for practically anyone, depending on your interests and what it is you want your experience to be comprised of. There are wilderness backpacking trips in the United States in state parks like Yosemite, Yellowstone and through the rugged terrain of Alaska. If you’re hoping to experience a backpacking expedition abroad, but still want the experience of camping, hiking, being immersed into nature, etc., there are backpacking expeditions one can sign up for in places like Australia, where you get the chance to explore areas that relatively few people have ever seen. I hope that someday I will have the opportunity to experience one of these wilderness trips as well, but the first area of the world that I hope to backpack through is Europe/Asia.

Backpacking in Europe normally consists of staying in hostels, site seeing, and really doing and experiencing whatever you choose, depending on your budget. One source I found, which included some eating out, shopping, and staying in hotels, averaged that a normal backpacking trip through Europe costs about $5,500 dollars per person, not including plane travel. Now of course, this cost is completely dependent on how long you choose to travel for, and how much shopping/eating out you plan on doing. Heck, if you’re up for sleeping on streets or campgrounds as opposed to hostels, you could probably significantly reduce the cost. But I like sleeping in beds, so I think I’d just pay the extra money.

I hope that someday I have the freedom, the funds, and the time to pick up and go to Europe for a month or so. Just to be able to see the world, and honestly in part to prove to myself that I can live out of a backpack for an extended period of time, which probably would be my biggest challenge (I’ll admit I’m a tad high maintenence), is an experience that I sincerely hope to have.

Links:

http://www.activebackpacker.com/1014/the-average-cost-of-backpacking-across-europe-an-indepth-look-at-my-2-month-trip/

http://www.nols.edu/courses/locations/australia/aubackpacking.shtml

http://www.qdkfqsz.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Backpacking-in-Europe.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backpacking_(travel)

#20: Join the Peace Corps

With the possibility of law or grad school, I haven’t the slightest idea of how long I’ll be in school, or how long it’ll be before I find a real job. However, i imagine that once I finally graduate (or rather if I graduate…) and hopefully begin a career, the idea of me waking up one day and saying “I think I’m going to leave and join the Peace Corps for a few years” becomes less feasible.

peace-corps-NPR1

However, the mission of the Peace Corps, which is to help train men and women in developing countries, to help people in foreign countries to better understand, and to help Americans understand the rest of the world, is something that I believe in firmly. I’ve always been interested in international affairs (I’m a double major in international politics), and I have always dreamed of doing something I find meaningful, something where I really feel like I am in some small way positively impacting the world.

I realize that growing up the US, I have been blessed with a relatively easy life compared with that of people in many of parts of the world. And I want to help make a difference in the lives of those people. I would love to be able to at some point in my life join the Peace Corps, to immerse myself into a culture vastly different than what I am used to in the U.S., and at the same time helping to educate and improve the lives of people around the world.

But of course, my education is of upmost importance to me, and if grad school of some sort is the path that I eventually choose to follow, I was not willing to sacrifice my education in order to join. But after researching it some more, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Peace Corps actually has a program for grad students! So, no matter what direction I choose to go in with my life, the option of joining the Peace Corps remains open to me.

The Peace Corps has a program called Masters International, where at over 80 institutions, you can actually earn credit towards a masters degree while working for the Peace Corps abroad. I am just so excited for all that the future holds, and the fact that I have the option to combine my dream of furthering my education, and doing something to substantially impact the life of someone in need, is incredible, and is something that I really hope to do.

Links:

http://www.peacecorps.gov

http://blogs.miis.edu/communications/files/2010/08/peace-corps-NPR1.jpg

#19: Go on REAL Spring Break

Penn State’s campus is absolutely beautiful after it snows. The snow settles on all the trees, everything is covered in a layer of white, and the entire campus just looks like a winter wonderland. So normally when it snows here I get a little overly excited – obnoxiously instagramming way too many pictures of snow-covered trees and buildings, and unsuccessfully begging my friends to go play in the snow with me.

photo-4

However, lately I find myself more than a little tired of the whole freezing cold, no sunshine, walking to class in the hail storm routine. Snow is beautiful and I love it…. In January. But it’s not January anymore. It’s March. Mid March for that matter. I mean a white Christmas is awesome. But a white Easter? No thanks. After about four or so months of bundling up like an eskimo to walk to class and packing on an extra layer of fat just for survival purposes, I’ve about had enough. I think that most other students here would agree with me when I say that spring weather can come any day now.

All that being said, as nice as it was spending spring break at home, relaxing with my family, at this time of the year I could certainly go for a week at the beach. To be able to lay by the ocean, actually feel the sunshine for once, or even to just to go outside without eighteen layers of clothing on, is more than worth any amount of money I would have to pay. According the mainstreet.com, the average college student spends $1,100 a week on spring break trips. And if you think about it, this number isn’t all that unreasonable. Between hotel costs, plane tickets, and spending during the trip, spring break is definitely an expensive endeavor. Being the broke college student that I am, I don’t exactly have this kind of money just laying around to spend how I please. Like most college students, what money I do have is used to do laundry or is being saved to buy books next semester (most of which I’ll never even open). So it’s safe to say that an extravagant spring break trip is going to be a one time deal for me, probably best saved for my senior year.

However ridiculously expensive it may be, I still have to say that going on spring break with my friends is definitely worth the cost. Realistically, we really only get four years with the people that we meet here at Penn State, and after that, once we are all in the real world with real jobs, taking off to Florida for a week in March isn’t quite as easy. So I might as well take advantage of the opportunity to get a nice tan and enjoy a week with my friends, before I have to start paying back student loans and being a real adult.

Links:

http://www.mainstreet.com/article/smart-spending/budgeting/spring-break-money-mistakes

#18: STOP PROCRASTINATING

Today I was late to my english class. Now anyone who knows me shouldn’t be too surprised by this. I’m late for practically everything. Always. My friends from high school would tell me to be places an hour before they actually wanted me there so that’d I’d show up on time. I have a problem.

But my lateness is beside the point. My point is that I was late to english because I overslept. Lame excuse, I know. But the reason I overslept was because I stayed up until 5:30 doing homework. WHO STAYS UP UNTIL 5:30 DOING HOMEWORK?! I mean I don’t even have exams this week. I have a lot of work, but no exams, no gigantic 15 page papers, just regular college homework. But a caffeine pill and and two pots of coffee later (I’m not proud of my caffeine addiction but at least I’m honest), it was 5:30 and I was still sitting in the Atherton lobby working. Actually I think the really sad story here is that I wasn’t the only kid awake at this point, and people were still working when I finally went to bed.

The-Procrastinator-procrastination-273885_400_388

So I started thinking, what on Earth happened that I had to stay up that late just to get my work done? How is that even possible? I know I have a few hard classes, but they’re not THAT hard. And then it dawned on me… Gossip Girl. Gossip Girl and Twitter are the sole reasons that my average bedtime has become 3 am. It’s even to the point where I physically cannot fall asleep any earlier than that. Actually as I write this, it’s 2:23 am, and I’m most likely quitting at 3:00 yet again.

Realistically, had I not watched so many episodes of Gossip Girl this past week, not spent that solid hour and a half refreshing my twitter feed every day (I don’t even know why I do that – few people I follow are that interesting), and maybe cut out a few of my mid afternoon naps, then heck i probably could’ve gone to bed by 2am every night this week! But instead, I spend my day finding any and every excuse not to do homework, until I reach the point where I actually have no choice.

So I’m going to make myself stop. As of today I am making a resolution: that I will not watch any tv/netflix, and will only BRIEFLY check Twitter until I have all of my work done. Putting everything off until the last minute is silly, and just makes me even more stressed over everything I have to get done. According to Pennington Hennessy Behavioural Change Consultancy, procrastination causes stress because if you are somehow prevented from completing a task, or just have some task you have yet to begin, your unconscious mind will continue to nag your conscious mind until you complete whatever it is you have to do. And of course, you can’t just trick you subconscious into thinking it has nothing to stress over. If only it were that simple.

And I figure, seeing as I am only a freshman, and at some point in the future will have my honors thesis to write, and probably a job on top of all of my classes, it’s about time I get it together and learn how to get my work done ahead of time. Really I’ll just be making life easier on myself. And I’m starting with this blog… it’s Wednesday night, or rather Thursday morning, and I have Friday’s blog done. I think that counts as progress, right?

Sources:

http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/The-Procrastinator-procrastination-273885_400_388.jpg

http://www.penningtonhennessy.com/blog/bid/21617/The-scientific-reason-why-procrastination-causes-stress

#17: Live with no Regrets

I felt like a clueless thirteen year old girl just typing that phrase, but I swear I have a valid point.

I know it sounds really cliche, and some would say impossible, to say that I want to have no regrets, and maybe it is. However, to me living without regret doesn’t mean never doing anything that I shouldn’t do. Believe me when I tell you I’m incredibly skilled at doing things that I shouldn’t do, especially when I know at the the time that I shouldn’t be doing them.

So at first glance it may not make sense for me to say that I hope to continue living without regret, when I pretty consistently make mistakes. The thing is, living without regret doesn’t mean not making mistakes. We all mess up – the difference merely lies in whether or not we learn from our mistakes. But this doesn’t mean that I don’t make the same mistakes multiple times, or that I learn from them right away. Quite frankly, there have been times where I’ve done the exact same stupid thing three or four times until I finally make myself understand that I am being a moron and need to stop whatever it is I keep doing. And other times, it can take months for me to learn the lessons behind whatever mistakes I have made. But eventually, I learn appreciate the life lesson that whatever I did wrong has to offer, and take comfort in the fact that whatever mistakes I’ve made in the past will simply make me better prepared to handle the future, and are leading me down whatever path I’m meant to follow.

A study by the National Institute of Health that 79% of Americans’ regrets fall into these categories (from largest percent to smallest): education, career, romance, and parenting. This same study also stated that “regret persists in precisely those situations in which opportunity for positive action remains high.” In other words, in situations where the individual could have done something to change whatever they regret – situations where an individual didn’t do something or missed an opportunity, this is where they regret the most. People consistently regret the things they haven’t done more than those they have. This explains why education is such a huge regret; there are so many opportunities for furthering one’s education in America today, it only makes sense that those who choose not to in their youth end up regretting in later in life. So the question is, how do we prevent these types of regret?

My advice is simple: Don’t be afraid, take chances, make mistakes, learn from the past, and always keep moving forward.

Urls:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2394712/

#16: Run a Marathon …or maybe a half marathon

I was the kid who, during my absolutely terrible eighth grade attempt at playing junior high basketball, picked the ball up and ran with it like a football during my first game. Apparently that’s not allowed. Stupid rule in my opinion. I’ll never understand what possessed me, at an intimidating five feet tall, to pick basketball – in that one season I managed to break a finger, throw up in my teammate’s lap, and at one point my coach had to duct tape my shorts up during a game. And did I mention that I kind of ran like a duck at that point? The entire thing was just bad; I’m proud to say that I stuck with it and finished that one season, but basketball just certainly wasn’t my thing. So it’s safe to say that I wasn’t exactly known in my for my athleticism. At all.

But now every time I see one of my friends from back home at the white building, they never fail to be genuinely surprised to see me actually working out. And for some strange reason they don’t believe me when I try to tell them I worked out in high school too. But I swear I did. I try to go every day, and I mean there have definitely been a few Saturday mornings where I was just notttttt feeling it, but I’ve really stuck with it since coming here. Probably most of the reason for that is it’s literally a thirty second walk from Atherton to the gym, so I don’t have to actually drive anywhere, and don’t have much excuse not to go. And my friends force me to go, like actually come into my room and drag me out of bed kind of forcing.

Originally I was going to make this post about running a 5K, since I’ve made it my goal this year to do so. I know 5K’s aren’t supposed to be that awful, but when you’re as uncoordinated and unathletic as I am, it’s an accomplishment. And at this point I feel confident that I could, and I’m really excited for it. If nothing else I’ll prove to myself that I do have an ounce of athletic ability in my body somewhere.

Side note: Someone recently told me about this thing called “The Color Run.” Apparently, it’s these 5K’s where you start out in all white, and at each kilometer they have people who just spray you with color. So then at the end of the race you’re just covered in all these colors! The website also says that at some point there’s going to be one in Philadelphia, but there was not information on when. But to me that sounds like a lot of fun, if nothing else it’s definitely different.

The Color Run

But since this is a bucket list, and the 5K’ll be pretty easy to do since they have multiple here at Penn State, I figured go big or go home, right? One day, I want to be in shape enough to run a marathon. I realize that realistically there’s a good change I never will, but a half marathon seems doable. It definitely won’t be an easy thing for me, but I really just want to prove to myself that I can. There’s a rush in accomplishing something that you never thought that you could, and trust me, I never thought I would even desire to be able to. It’ll be a tough one, but I really hope I do it!

Link to Color Run website: http://thecolorrun.com

Picture Url: http://www.styleweekly.com/binary/d77e/night37_color_run.jpg

#15: Doesn’t even matter where, but study abroad

College is a time in all of our lives where we have the freedom and the opportunities to do almost anything we set our minds to. I know that sounds super cliche… I felt like one of my overly-inspiratioinal and slightly pushy high school teachers typing that, but I sincerely believe that it’s true. Realistically we don’t have thattttt many responsibilities outside of school work, there’s almost practically nothing holding us back. So why not take advantage of such a unique time in our lives, and experience everything that we can?

flags_globe

Most people I know, myself included, say they hope to travel abroad at some point in their lives. And I figure, there’s no better time to do so than in college, when I don’t have a real job to worry about or other people to take care of. I mean hell, my roommate told me the other day that it’s actually cheaper for her to study abroad than it is for her to pay out of state tuition. I’d say that in and of itself is enough incentive to go abroad.

But besides the potential financial benefits (although I’m pretty positive it’ll definitely be more expensive for me to study abroad than to pay Penn State tuition) and the convenience of being in college, studying abroad presents a unique opportunity. It gives us college kids, some of which, in my case at least, haven’t travelled outside of the east coast since they were in diapers, the chance to experience a different culture. I can’t imagine that vacationing abroad is really at all the same; there’s certainly a difference between vacationing in a foreign country with your family and spending four months abroad with no one that you knew previously. It would certainly be intimidating: having to adjust to different cultural norms, possibly speaking a different language, and being thousands of miles away from your friends and family would by no means be easy. But it would be the experience of a lifetime, and one that I do not want to miss out on.

 

Picture URL: http://www.international.sbc.edu/images/flags_globe.png