Your UChicago Bucket List

Next week, our second year students return for their final quarter at Harris! One of our second year student ambassadors, Ana Dora Guerra, has put together an essential to-do list for our incoming students. 

Graduation is almost here! We all know how 10 weeks fly by so fast and there is so much we would like to accomplish. Attending lectures, doing p-sets, exercising, eating out, hanging out with friends, going to talks and events, getting a full time job, nailing our courses and getting some sleep. Since we can't have it all hope this bucket list helps as we start saying goodbye to our life at Harris!

Enjoy Lake Michigan

It's true that I might be obsessed with the lake, and why wouldn’t I?  It's beautiful in every season, and most of us won't have the opportunity of living so near a lake again (Harris is 15 minutes from the lake!). That is why riding or walking through the lakefront towards the city is the first item on the list!

Promontory Point

The best way to enjoy the lake is to take advantage of Promontory Point. It's a 20-minute bus ride or 10 minute drive from campus. The views of the city are fantastic and it's a great place to spend some time getting Vitamin D, have a BBQ with your friends, or just chilling by yourself.

Go to a Baseball Game

Will you root for the North Side Cubs or the South Side White Sox? If you are not into sports like me, go to enjoy a delicious Chicago style hotdog while outdoors. Both stadiums are an easy "El" ride away - just hop on and off the train! 

Try Deep Dish 

Have one more deep dish pizza. You'll find that every time someone comes to visit, they want to do touristy things like have deep dish - but let's be honest: you’ll miss the pizza once you move to a different city! If Giordano's is not your thing, there are other places you can try like Pequod’s in Lincoln Park. 

Explore the Neighborhoods

Spend the day and have dinner in a different Chicago neighborhood. It can be hard to make the time, but you can make a study day out of it. Go to a coffee place and then have Mexican dinner in Pilsen, hot pot in Chinatown, or try Ethiopian, Vietnamese, Ukrainian, Indian, Thai, Japanese cuisine… the list is endless!

Explore the Campus

Walk around campus just to admire the architecture. Look up to the ceiling of the buildings and see how many different gargoyles you can spot. Can you find the crocodile one? UChicago has so many beautiful things to offer, it would be a shame if you only walk campus in a hurry as you are late for class. Grab a friend and walk around just for the sake of admiring our beautiful campus.

Make Studying Fun! 

Do some reading in the Arley D. Cathey Learning Center (a.k.a Harry Potter library). You need to study anyway, better to enjoy the beautiful spots! After your study session, go to the Pub. Have a beer or, if drinking is not your thing, just play some pool. Few are lucky enough to have a pub in their University as cool as ours.  And chances are you will always find Harristas there!

Join a Student Organization

And last, take advantage of all the student groups have to offer - we have over 30! It is a great opportunity to be amazed by your Harris classmates and remind yourself we are surrounded by incredible people and that for a year or more, we had the opportunity to learn with them and from them.

I know we will be in a hurry as we try to figure out our lives after graduation and anxiety might be on the rise. Just make sure to take some deep breaths every once in a while and enjoy what we have here. Enjoy your classes, the city, the wind, your friends, all the amazing people you’ve met so far. There are so many wonders at the University of Chicago and the city that we can enjoy!