At the beginning of this semester, SGA and CAB handed out at least 5,000 student planners in the quad.

I know there are plenty of acutely organized students like me who got a planner, and you are probably familiar with the “things to do before you graduate” list that lies within the first few pages. 

I am a list kind of person, so when I first noticed this list of stuff to do I was pretty excited. Because not only do I love lists, I hate boredom. And laziness except for on certain days like the weekend after finals week. 

Of course, there is plenty of studying to do in college to keep you from official boredom, but sometimes you need a study break. 

The list is pretty much a huge list of study breaks. 

The list has some pretty cool stuff on it, like go to the downtown art crawl, which I heavily encourage, and order a Johnny’s pizza which involves pizza, so it I also encourage. 

I have no idea who composed this list, but props to you. It’s nice to have some good suggestions and encouragement to get off our butts and do something. 

For students who like to do stuff, I suggest you take the list as a challenge. 

I also suggest making your own list. 

I don’t mean to brag or anything, but I have been here in Monroe for about a year and a half and only have 21 things left to check off of my “things to do before I graduate” list. 

This means that I’ve completed over half of the list already. This also means that I’m eventually going to need more stuff to keep me busy and to give me a break from studying. 

So I made another list. This one is catered to the wants of my friends and me. For example, I want to go to one of the many pawn shops in this area. One of my friends wants to go to Clock World, whatever that is. 

We even have video bingo down on the list because, why not? It’s this kind of weird stuff that doesn’t make it onto the official list but is too potentially fun to pass up. 

If you can, drive around the Monroe/West Monroe area with some friends and pick some stuff to do that isn’t on the official list. 

Build your own college bucket list. It can be your own or a compilation of lists from you and your friends. 

Maybe you’ll want to help clean up the Ouachita River one year or form an intramural team. You could throw a picnic in Bayou Park or go to the River Market downtown. 

It may even be fun to find out who can fit the most grapes in their mouth in the cafeteria. 

For people who have grown up in Monroe, don’t think you’ve seen everything this city has to offer. And even if you have, go see it again with new people and have some new experiences. 

Studying is super important, but you’ve got to do something else or you’ll waste away into a neurotic undergrad. 

Most likely, you’re stuck here for four years. You might as well do interesting things with your time.