How To Make A Bucket Tree
It’s easy to get caught up in the “busyness” of it all. Class, work, homework, class, class, project, class, work, presentation, etc. It’s a lot of work and it doesn’t end. You are here for one year (most of you) and in that year you are getting what takes most two years. You are getting a master’s degree.
If you are not from Syracuse and you are not planning on staying here after graduation, you only get a short period of time to get as much as you can from the city. Life will always be busy; it won’t slow down just because you graduate.
During boot camp, one of my roommates made a tree for a class assignment. Since there were so many Syracuse activities my roommates and I wanted to participate in during this short year, we converted it into the bucket tree.
All of my roommates are in different programs, so while we may not get to see each other much in class, we can have fun trying something new, even something as simple as going to a new restaurant. For instance, three of us went to Ruby Tuesday a few weeks ago. Ruby Tuesday isn’t native to Syracuse but two of my roommates had never been. I am a big fan of the mango iced tea and garden bar; so obviously, it was a necessary addition to the bucket tree.
Making Your Bucket Tree
Step 1: Come up with your bucket list. Think of some of the things you wish you had time to do and keep adding to it as the year continues.
Here are some examples from our tree:
Run a 5K
Eat at Dino BBQ
Get on ESPN
Go inside the Hogwarts building on campus
You need to take the weather into account. The winter is cold, really cold, and the summer can get pretty hot. You are not going to want to go to one of the beaches around here in January and you aren’t going to plan a ski trip in the middle of July. Set your goals high, but be realistic and plan accordingly.
You can get some ideas for your adventures from the Newhouse Master’s Pinterest.
Step 2: Make a giant tree out of construction paper. You can get creative here. Use any colors you want. Make a different shape if you want. Maybe you don’t want a giant tree; maybe you want to make a giant map of the city or a big building. Your options are endless.
Step 3: Make a bucket. Our bucket looks more like a basket, but we’re going to call it a bucket.
Step 4: Make some fruit. You need to stick your bucket list items onto your tree, so make some creative shapes and write your goals on them. We used fruit but then expanded to a popcorn container and a golden snitch, which obviously, we wrote our Hogwarts building goal on.
Step 5: Make time and accomplish your goals. When you finish something on your list, put it in the bucket. Every day you’ll get to wake up and see the things you want to accomplish and the things you already have.
It’s going to be a stressful year but make sure you find time to experience what the city has to offer and have fun.
