The Baylor Bucket List

As I write this, I'm slowly starting to realize what it really feels like to be graduating from college in 32 days. I'm terrified, I'm fidgety with excitement, and I daydream all the time. More exactly, it's 31 days, 11 hours, 27 minutes, and 34 seconds. I've been counting down since about 60 days, and it's the little things that happen each day that remind me how fast the clock is ticking. In 32 days, I will no longer introduce myself as, "Hi, I'm Alex. I'm a Baylor student." Instead, I'll say, "Hi, I'm Alex, and I'm..." I'll probably trail off, not knowing quite what to add to the end of that. I'll have to come up with something clever to add so people believe me when I say I graduated from college. Suggestions are welcome :)

I was somewhat reluctant to come to Baylor a little over three years ago. I thought I would be overwhelmed by Bible verses to learn and I wouldn't make any friends who didn't want to spend all their free time in church. I thought I would absolutely die of boredom in Waco. I thought I wouldn't know anyone, and I thought I would sink myself into endless debt. I thought I would become invisible in the crowd and no one would know who I was, even myself. On all these accounts, I thought wrong. Baylor became a home where I developed new sets of friends who became family. We ate together, laughed together, cried together, studied together. We changed who we were, and then we changed again. We grew closer, and some of us grew apart. Nevertheless, Baylor has been everything I hoped for, and much more. I have been so blessed.

To celebrate my "break-up" with Baylor, I've decided to make a bucket list. Before graduating and leaving Waco far behind, I want to:

1. Visit Cameron Park.
2. Make a trip to What About Cupcakes?
3. Give a Baylor squirrel a hug (seriously...)
4. Tell each one of my amazing friends how much I treasure them.
5. Do some people watching at the Waco mall.
6. Make a pilgrimage to Common Grounds.
7. Tell some of my favorite professors "thank you" for all their dedication.
8. Go to Vitek's one last time.
9. Avoid being caught in any armed robberies (kidding...kinda)
10. Drive around Waco just to truly appreciate how glad I will be to not have to deal with Waco drivers anymore.
11. Walk across the stage at graduation and not fall flat on my face.

 I'll probably think of more brilliant ideas to add to this list. For now, it's back to studying!