Leaving it all on the table

I couldn't help but be a little depressed when I read an editorial in the 'Prince' that referred to my second semester as the "twilight" of my time in college. In the editorial, "Making the right choices: Students who take the easy path often gain little more than a feeling of regret," the Editorial Board mused, that "between the hustle of finding jobs and the bustle of researching senior thesis topics, some look back on their time in college with regret."

Sitting at my desk, transcript in hand, thesis topic in mind but not on paper, a week of Bicker absurdity behind me and still unemployed, I thought long and hard of the remembrances of my time at Princeton and whether they "bring only the sting of lost opportunities."

As a senior, I realize that my fate is inescapable. In four months, the higher authorities will force me to don a gown, and I will be told to perform the coup-de-gras and march from FitzRandolph Gate. While this gives me the same nauseous feeling that David Ortiz gave me in the 2004 American League Championship Series, at no point do I feel like I have wasted my time here, missed any opportunities or feel, in any way, this "senior regret" that the Editorial Board speaks of. Sure, I regret not having taken a class with John Fleming or having tried out for the squash team my freshman year, and I definitely regret not having proposed to Vail Bloom, but it is unfair to call these missed opportunities. Instead I took a class with James McPherson, applied to be a columnist for the 'Prince' and never actually talked to Vail. But, there are still things I haven't done, and in order to "nip in the bud" the possibility of my regretting anything come June, I have compiled a list of things to do before I graduate. Some are serious, some are cheesy and some are plain stupid, but if I don't complete it, I actually will regret it. If you're a senior and don't have a list, I suggest you make one. Here are some of the highlights from my list:

First and foremost, I want to write an awesome thesis. As absurd as this might sound, the thought of hunkering down in the bowels of Firestone, locked away in my closet of a carrel and surrounded by the works of greater minds, is exciting. If for no other reason, I feel as though I am taking part in a quintessential Princeton experience: a rite of passage to my diploma.

Have a meal at Good Friends with a group of good friends. Good Friends is the hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant placidly located adjacent to Princeton Junction station. Highlights include bringing your own keg, food fights and playing the game of "find the hidden egg roll."

Go to Professor Fleming's office hours.

Sit in on a class that I would never have enrolled in but sounds interesting. LIN 205: The Chomskyan Revolution.

The Prospect 11.

Go to a campus theatre production. I always see posters for all these different plays but always convince myself that I never have enough time to sit through a two-hour production.

Talk to that girl, make peace with that friend I had a fight with and go watch my roommate play tennis. Leave it all out on the table.

And most importantly, spend hours doing absolutely nothing with my friends. In my four years of writing columns, I have always, above all else, argued that the defining and most rewarding part of the Princeton experience is the people you meet in your time here and the conversations you will share. I have been lucky enough to foster some amazing friendships — all different and all, I hope, lifelong. Whether discussing foreign policy, beer, religion or even sex, my biggest regret will be if I spend my time, as the 'Prince' wrote, considering "silly and lighthearted conversations which we forget in a moment more often than educational and soul-searching ones." All my friends will leave indelible marks on my character and if spend my time worrying about missed opportunities or what conversations we are having, I will actually wake up one morning with a job, a cable bill, a necktie and regret for my second semester of my senior year in college. Chris Berger is a history major from New York City. He can be reached at cberger@princeton.edu.