My Top Ten
As a graduating senior in my final quarter of college, I have begun to reflect on my time at UC Davis. I started to think about all of the things that I am going to miss (and somewhat already do), and made a list of them. I wanted to share them with the readers in the hopes that they remember to live in the moment at college.
Here they are, in no particular order:
1. The greenery. Davis has a vast campus, featuring a large grass quad and an arboretum with a good-sized pond. I always enjoyed these natural areas, especially after being in classrooms for the bulk of the day.
2. The roommate bond. Living with someone different leads to many new experiences, but the ones that I will remember the most seem the most trivial. I will always remember my roommate and I eating soup in the middle of the night, talking in the hallway for hours, and making midnight Slurpee runs to 7-Eleven.
3. The intellectual variety. College is great because it allows students to challenge themselves in so many academic disciplines. I majored in Political Science, but the classes I loved the most were in Nutrition, American Studies, and Comparative Literature.
4. College sporting events. One of my first BetterGrads posts covered this, but it definitely bears some repeating. The atmosphere of the student section is incomparable, and I will never forget the electric environment of an NCAA soccer playoff game that our school hosted during my junior year.
5. Club meetings, events, retreats, etc. I participated as a member of the Davis College Democrats for three years, and they were the best three years of my life. Not only was it a great group to meet people (I met my girlfriend there), but it also allowed me the chance to learn about and actively participate in the political process.
6. The college town atmosphere. As of now, I don’t know if I will be leaving the city, but if so, I will definitely miss it. Davis is a fantastic city, and it is one of the few true college towns remaining.
7. Picnic Day. Most of you will not know what this is, so I will elaborate. Picnic Day is like Christmas for college students at UC Davis. Students set their alarms to wake up and start partying. The bars open at 7 A.M., the city is overrun with people (students and non-students), and the campus has great events going all day. If you ever find yourself in the Davis-Sacramento are on Picnic Day, I strongly urge you to partake in it (responsibly, of course).
8. Free time. When you are a college student, you get a good amount of flexibility when making your schedule. You can usually arrange a great deal of free time to spend on whatever you like. For most people, it will be the last period that you won’t be working from 9 to 5, so don’t let it go to waste.
9. Great friendships. College is a great place to meet different people, and it can be easy to make friends quickly. And while I hope to continue these friendships after college, I know that it will be difficult, if not impossible. After college, you and your friends will have busier and more complicated lives. Enjoy these friendships when they are easy to maintain.
10. Independence without responsibility. This is why college is such a fantastic time for most people. When you go away to college you get freedom from your parents; however, most also have some level of support coming from back home, so you don’t have to pay any serious bills. And unless you are a trust fund baby, this period will not be repeated again. It’s not happening again for me, and I already know I will miss it.
If anyone has any thoughts or additions to the list, please share your feedback below.
