NEW Ole Miss Bucket List
The NEW Ole Miss Bucket List. One that genuinely encapsulates what it means to love Ole Miss the way it deserves to be loved. THIS bucket list is for the Ole Miss student of today and of the future.
The NEW Ole Miss Bucket List
On page 30 of The Ole Miss yearbook, volume 121, there is a story of the “Ole Miss Bucket List.” It speaks about an older tradition of what a freshman is “suppose” to do as they complete their first year as an Ole Miss Rebel (McCallum).
One piece that stuck out to me in is how this old bucket list is not to be talked about. That these tasks are dangerous and can led to serious trouble. And they are right. These tasks do not embody the true spirit of Ole Miss, or what it means to be apart of this family (McCallum).
The Ole Miss Yearbook inspired me. It inspired me to think of a NEW Ole Miss Bucket List. One that genuinely encapsulates what it means to love Ole Miss the way it deserves to be loved. THIS bucket list is for the Ole Miss student of today and of the future (McCallum).
Read the bricks in The Circle:
When walking through The Circle we either do one of two things. We mostly look at our phones and then glance up occasionally to say “hey” to a buddy. But next time you walk through the shady Circle, look down. Take a look at the people that walked before you and left their mark, and more importantly their story.
Those bricks may just look like, well bricks, but they are also the culmination of a person’s entire Ole Miss experience. So read some of their stories. One of the best ones is in The Class of 2009 that states “Julie Conklin, marry me. Love, Brett.”
Sit in The Grove; just sit:
The Grove is usually seen as a tailgating only space. But your Ole Miss career is more than just 10 home games out of the year. You have 355 other days to enjoy The Grove. Enjoy the coolest of its grass, the shade from the trees, the vastness of its 10 acres. So if you can spare an afternoon, go sit and embrace everything The Grove means to the Ole Miss family.
Kiss someone at Paris-Yates Chapel:
One of Ole Miss’s best love stories. 63 years ago, Henry wanted to marry his love Rose. But because Henry was Jewish and Rose was Presbyterian, no one would agree to perform their marriage. They ended up getting married on the steps on a sorority house on campus. After some time, committee planning, and support from friends, the couple was able to see Paris-Yates Chapel grace the Ole Miss campus (The Oxford Eagle).
A chapel that doesn’t discriminate but is open to anyone and everyone who needs it. A place of beauty, silence, and love. A chapel where the light shining through the stain glass windows is always warm. Next time you see Paris Yates standing tall or hear the bells within it ringing from Peddle Tower, I hope you can appreciate Henry and Rose’s story.
Let’s honor them by creating a new tradition. A tradition that shows that love doesn’t care what religion you practice, how you love, or whom you love. A tradition where you kiss someone you love on the steps of Paris-Yates Chapel. Show your love the way Henry and Rose did (McCallum).
Join every organization you can:
Ole Miss is full of amazingly talented, loving, and inspiration people. But you have to put yourself out there if you want to find them. So make it tradition to put yourself out there as soon as you start your first year here. Because these are people you don’t want to miss out on.
Study in a Parlor Room:
The Lyceum is without a doubt the most iconic building at Ole Miss. It was the first one here and it will be the last to leave. But students don’t tend to go in there very often. It almost seems like you need an invitation to walk through those beautiful columns. But I encourage you to go through those doors and study in one of The Parlor Rooms when you feel the need to reconnect to the university. These rooms are not only beautiful and quiet, but they are also the perfect place to sit, reflect, and see that life really isn’t as complicated as we make it out to be.
Smell the flowers:
Spring at Ole Miss never disappoints. The flowers that are planted and replanted every week seem to be better than flowers we’ve seen elsewhere. But they also seem to be more than flowers. Because by the time those tulips start to open up, so do we. We realize how much that year has changed us, how much we’ve grown, how much better we are now. So make a point to smell these flowers and reflect on how they and you have changed for the better that year.
Thank the Champion Tree:
We have looked up at The Champion Tree and wondered how its still standing. With its wooden supports and cables, we wonder how it is still so big and so strong. But if you really think about it, this tree kind of represents us as students. College can leave us in the rain, make all our leaves fall off, leave us bare and exposed. But when it comes to Ole Miss, we find our own versions of wooden supports and cables that keep us standing so that we can once again grow our leaves. They come to us in the form of friends, family, and even strangers. So thank that seemingly old and tired tree. Tt is stronger then you think, just like you are.
Drive through Oxford on your first day and last day:
Oxford and Ole Miss are one in the same. We don’t have one without the other. And on a warm night with the streetlights flickering, they are even more magical. So what better way to start and end your Ole Miss career then by taking them in all of their entirety. The first night you arrive to Ole Miss as a student, drive through Oxford and campus with your windows down, your favorite songs turned up, your close friends next to you, and see what your future holds. Then on your last day as an Ole Miss student, do it all again.
Ole Miss is more than just a four-year commitment (or five or six years). It is a lifetime memory. And you have to do it right. I hope this NEW bucket list helps make every Ole Miss family member see the true importance of that memory.
Special thank you to The Ole Miss Yearbook for the inspiration.
Photos by: Lillian Benton
McCallum, K. (2017). The Bucket List (Vol. 121, The Ole Miss) (C. Herring, Ed.). University, MS: S Gale Denley Student Media Center, from http://theolemissyearbook.com/bucket-list/
The Oxford Eagle (Ed.). (2016, May 13). The Paris Yates Chapel welcomes all. Retrieved April 28, 2017, from http://m.oxfordeagle.com/2016/05/13/the-paris-yates-chapel-welcomes-all/
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