A Senior Moment

As the end of college draws perilously close my friends and I have begun compulsively making lists, just to make sure we haven’t forgotten anything. Four years has flown by, and though I can’t make this year last any longer, I can make sure it’s amazing and packed with all the things I forgot to do in the three years before this.

We have a lively Google doc of things to do, things to see, places to eat, places to go. In a way this helps us all avoid the really big questions that come up as graduation looms, bigger choices than where to eat on a Saturday night. Though I may not yet know when I’m starting work, where I’ll be next fall, where my apartment will be, or how on earth to budget a first year salary, I do know that I have about 10 more restaurants left on my bucket list. Mental clarity.

I haven’t mentioned it much here, but I’ve been toying with the idea of deferring my start with McKinsey in order to travel a bit and get some first-hand public health experience. I’ve really enjoyed the public health program here but have never gotten the chance to work in a clinic, for a charity, or “in the field.” Public Health majors a few years younger than me all have an Applied Experience requirement to their studies, but for the class of 2012 the focus was more on learning in the classroom. I learned a lot, but I think it would be an invaluable experience to return to South Africa as a Public Health student, rather than simply a study abroad student. I have a lot of flexibility with my “real life” start date, and I’m considering pushing it back until March 2013. My planning for this trip is about as organized as my bucket lists…thus far it involves a huge map of Africa with all the dangerous countries crossed out, and a list of NGOs on the back. Suddenly it seems that the pressure is on though, and big decisions need to be made about visas, jobs, timelines, grants, and the like. I’m dragging my feet and staring at my restaurant bucket list instead, but hopefully soon I’ll have some more information to share here.

In the mean time, back in Baltimore, the senior class council has been enabling our bucket list ways, planning a number of amazing events for the whole class. Last week we celebrated the start of spring semester with a happy hour downtown at Luckies, where coincidentally I attended my first Phi Mu date party as a freshman. Huge blast from the past. Other bucket list activities since the start of the semester have been my final “rush” with Phi Mu, heading downtown to watch the Ravens game in a serious sports bar, and attending Dogwood for restaurant week with my lovely roommate Laura. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to check off a few more items! Here’s to a great spring!

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Clockwise from top left: Laura and I dining at Dogwood, my Phi Mu “phamily” at Ice Water (first round of rush), Jillie and I at Senior Class Happy Hour, all of us downtown, Louisa and I at a fall Senior Event, & Jillie and I actually watching sports (the Ravens game).