What’s on Your Bucket List?

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” (Emerson)

Those were the first words stated by my first professor in my first class of my freshman year at Notre Dame.  He momentarily got the attention of the 12 of us sitting in his classroom.  Quickly our attentions again wandered…some of us looking quiet and unsure of what to make of his first powerful (LOUD) statement, others looking green from a first freshman party in their new dorm room and some just more interested with the buildings outside the classroom.

It was what followed after this statement that engaged us all.  “What will you be remembered for at Notre Dame?  What will you accomplish in the next four years?” Quickly the competitive nature of us all kicked knowing that whatever we said would have to be better than our neighbor sitting aside us.  One girl raised her hand eager to share and our professor said…write it down, don’t say it write it down.

Our professor left the room and we all looked at each other before erupting into…”that’s it?”  We all left class thinking to ourselves, wow easiest assignment ever and we only had to be in class for 5 minutes to learn it.  So this seemingly easy and even stupid assignment is something that consumed us all for an entire semester and engaged not only the 12 of us but all of our roommates, friends, etc…do I dare say there was viral before Facebook??

At lunch that afternoon there was chatter about what was on your list and do you think we could ever do really do that?  The conversation was loud and then came each of our “Bucket Lists.”

I wrote my bucket list with many fun, adventurous exciting things and continued to evolve it as the years went on because I realized that this question of “where will you be? What will you do?” confronts each of us all the time.  So I update my list every couple of years and approaching my 30^th birthday I think it’s time to revisit it again…some things have not changed and some things I have attained, so now it’s time to reach higher because as Michelangelo put it:

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss, but that it is too low and we reach it.”

 

So here it is…the Bucket List

 

Graduate from the University of Notre Dame…this was on my list at 9 years old

Get a Job

Start my own business by the time I am 30 (feels good to check this one off- also thrilled that I didn’t demand immediate success, maybe I was wiser than I thought at 18)

Skydive over the Alps

Heliski in Whistler

Rescue (2) Golden Retrievers (Bert & Ernie)

Be on the Board of a not for profit that helps children all over the country

Go back to Italy once a year and always visit Assisi when I am there

Visit Nantucket once a summer (may have actually surpassed this one with living here)

Go to the Coliseum in So Cal to see Notre Dame beat USC (no pressure guys)

Go on  Safari in Africa

Coach a sports team (any age)

Give back to my schools in any way possible

Donate a scholarship to Notre Dame for a pre-med student in my dad’s name

Run the NYC Marathon

Finish the Nantucket tri-athalon

Fall in love and elope to Italy

Live in New York City

Speak in front of 10,000 people

Visit the White House

Make a TV appearance (preferably on ESPN or FoxNews)

Throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium

Be asked to sit on the board at Notre Dame

See U2 in concert

Shake hands with Richard Branson (maybe he’ll take me skydiving)

Learn to surf in Hawaii

Plan an inauguration gala for a president

Mentor kids to get into college, get jobs and just be successful and happy in life

Write a Book