Mawer, Chloe: Bucket List

Diane Ackerman once said, “I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” A bucket list helps accomplish “living the width” of life. Two specific goals that are on my bucket list are to graduate nursing school and to travel to Bora Bora.

            Graduating from nursing school and becoming a neonatal nurse has been a goal of mine for years. I set this goal for myself my freshman year of high school and since then it has been a major part of my bucket list. My mom always pushed me to do my best and encouraged me to reach my goal of working in the medical field. When she passed unexpectedly in 2012, it pushed graduating from nursing school to the top of my bucket list. If I accomplish nothing else on my bucket list, I will still be content with myself because I know I will have made her proud, and will be living my dream of helping others.

            Traveling to Bora Bora is more of a desire than a goal, but it’s still something I would love to do before I die. Laying at the beach is one of my favorite things and spending a vacation on one of the most beautiful islands in the world sounds pretty great to me. Also, I would love to see all of the beautiful scenery Bora Bora has to offer.

            While graduating nursing school is my number one goal, I hope that I can experience both of these things in my lifetime. When I look back on this essay in ten years, I hope I can say that I’ve accomplished the two things that I’m dreaming of doing now and that I’m “living the width” of my life.

Parrott, Tanner: Bucket List

-->

A bucket list is an opportunity to list things that I would want to do one day. It is a highlight reel for the future that I can plan today. I have many dreams I wish would one day come true. Among these are traveling to foreign places, mastering new sports, and living out my childhood dreams.

I have always dreamed about traveling around Europe, Germany in particular. I want to experience multiple cultures outside of American society. When I was younger my family lived in Germany and I loved everything about it. The people I met, the food I ate and the places I saw while there all came together to create lasting memories that I would love to reexperience.

An item that I can cross off my list much closer to home is bowling a perfect score. I bowl a few times a year and always have a good time. At the same time I watch people in other lanes and I am blown away by their level of skill. The ability to put spin on the ball is an amazing skill that if mastered would give me an incredible sense of accomplishment. It is also a sport that I will be able to play with friends and family for a long time to come.

One day I want to fly an airplane. When I was younger my dream job was becoming a pilot. Ever since I was little I have been fascinated with airplanes and the science behind how they work. Even flying as a passenger made my passion grow more and more. I now want to get my pilot’s license and fly at my local airport for fun.

Graham, Mayce: Bucket List

            There are many things I wish to accomplish in my life: some realistic, others not so much. However, if I lived in a perfect world where anything could happen, these are the things I would want to do first.

1.     Go on a mission trip out of the United States.

I have been on a few mission trips in my short lifespan, but never have I been on one out of the country. I love learning about different cultures, and I want to share with the people of these cultures the love of Jesus. It is very important to me.

2.     Write a book.

I love reading, and I love writing even more. I want to write at least one book, but hopefully I will write more than that. Reading is like an escape from reality to me; someday I want to create my own alternative to reality.

3.     Get married.

Yes, I know, this is very cliché, but it is important to me. I believe that marriage is a life decision, so I will only marry the man God has chosen for me, wherever he is.

4.     Go to Disney World during Christmas.

I absolutely love anything to do with Disney. I am such a child at heart, and it makes me very nostalgic to go back and watch some of the older movies. Christmas is literally the most wonderful time of the year to me. It is such a happy time, and I enjoy spending time with my family. So, putting my two favorite things together seems like an obvious decision.

5.     Go to Italy.

Italian culture fascinates me. I would love to travel there and see it all for myself. Not to mention, it is a very beautiful country.

            Someday I will accomplish these goals of mine, perfect world or not.

Staley, Cody: Bucket List

                  At some point everyone dies, but before I die there are a few things I wish to accomplish. Among my goals I have dreams of traveling many different places and going on larger than life adventures. Some of the places I would like to travel include Europe and its major cities: Moscow, Beijing, Tokyo, Jerusalem, Chernobyl, and Easter Island. As for Adventure I’d like to trek through the rainforest, walk along the Great Wall, climb part-way up Mt. Everest, go skydiving in a wingsuit, and scuba dive at the Great Barrier Reef. I have many lofty and not likely goals I wish to accomplish within my lifetime, however I also have many reasonable goals I wish to complete.

                  Before I die there are some things I absolutely need to accomplish to feel satisfied. Sometime within the next ten years I want to start a family and have a stable well paid job. I want to make enough money that I can care for my mother as she gets older. I want to invent something that changes the world for the better if only in some small way. Something I absolutely can’t die without learning is how to solve a Rubiks cube. Everyone has things that they want to accomplish before they die. Everyone should at some point take the time to write down a bucket list. Writing this bucket list has been a valuable use of my time and I encourage others to do so at their convenience.

Silveira, Alberto: Bucket List

            I always like to keep things simple, which that might be an advantage or disadvantage depending on the situation. At this point in my life, my main goal is to create games. I could say that it is the number one thing on my bucket list, but to get to that point I have to go through years and years of education, preparation, and development. Before that main goal, the second item on my bucket list would be that I want to create a game, design, and animation studio. It does not matter what field I want to cover with my studio as long as I create that big project with my friends. We have been planning that for so many years, so I can not wait for it to be true. Before all that can happen, I need to gain experience from all the work that I am doing right now, and that I will do as a senior or graduate student.  There is one thing that I honestly want then, and that is to be as excited as I am right now during all these coming years. Of course, I want to meet new people who could help me reach my goal quickly. It is really important to be friends with people who share the same interests.

           

            I know that my bucket list must sound dull, but it is my passion. It has brought me a lot of things, in the future it is going to be my work, pay my bills, and connect me with people. When others realize what the games I create are they will not see them as silly or childish. There is much beyond that superficial perception.

Hanson, Tyler: Bucket List

-->

My bucket list has never been long or complex it is, however, specific. One of the minor entries on my bucket list is to find my true love. As cliché as that sounds, l’amour vrai remains a pivotal thought in my head, as I believe that, once united with my soul mate, my life will be as gratifying as it will ever be.

An ardent fan of cartoons, anime in particular, I hanker to establish myself as a prominent cartoonist. Growing up on classic Cartoon Network shows, such as Ed Edd n Eddy, and anime television series and cinema, such as the acclaimed and renowned Death Note and Spirited Away, my passion for drawing and storytelling only grows more incessant as the years go by. I already have an idea in mind for my first show: House of Cards, it follows a supernatural high school student and his friends’ carcinogenic quest to find the origin of their abilities while being pursued by a masked antagonist, who seems to bear considerable knowledge of their powers. 

My prime passion is storytelling, which has been evident throughout my life, with several people of substantial authority praising my work as “beyond my years.” Stuck in limbo for some time on what my breakout novel will be, I have conceived Wrath of Kane, a dark-humored tale of a college student/criminal, aided by his red-eyed, intransigent counterpart, Wolf Kane, who attempts to further his trade while circumventing an enigmatic worldwide kingpin and the heretical but potent attempts of a young detective to put him behind bars. My number one entry on my bucket list is to put this story on the big screen so everyone can see my masterpiece.

Marsh, Tymia: Bucket List

          On the very first day of my Honors Seminar class, my professor looked at me and asked, “What is the number one thing on your bucket list?” This question caught me by surprise because before that moment I had never really considered my lifetime as a whole, let alone the most important thing for me to accomplish during it. After about a minute or so, I answered, “The number one thing on my bucket list is to go skydiving.” I’m aware that, at the surface, my answer may come off a bit thoughtless and ambitionless, but for me, personally, there is plenty of meaning behind it.

            The most popular things on people’s bucket lists are to become rich, to travel the world, or to get married. These things all share one common factor: they illustrate different viewpoints of success. Career wise, I will view myself as successful once I am a practicing dermatologist. Being that I struggled with my skin for years, I’m aware of how influential its condition can be on a person’s self-esteem, and I’d like to be able to make a difference in someone’s life one patient at a time. When it comes to my life overall, however, I am successful once I have conquered my fears.

            I feared college, but I am doing well. I feared living 18 hours away from my family, but I am making it. I still fear heights. I still fear danger. I still fear things that are out of my control. This is why skydiving is number one on my list. I want the liberating feeling that comes with conquering the natural fears. Life, in my perspective, is about taking chances. I wouldn’t be here at Southern Arkansas now if it wasn’t for them.