Published May 16, 2004

[LISTEN] (Download RealPlayer)

It's probably a little late to mention this, but if you go to the GW Web site there's a list of 101 things that a student should do at GW. While this is something I think we would have benefited from more at freshman convocation than at Commencement, let's take a look at some of the things that are on the list.

There's Things To Do At GW No. 49, sit on Einstein's lap; or Things To Do At GW No. 14, see an Orioles game at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

Some of these you may have done without even knowing they were on the list. Others you probably didn't know existed.

Looking over the list and seeing what I had done got me thinking, and I quickly realized that the items on this list were far more than just individual tasks. Each task had a story and each story a lesson that could be taken from it. Things To Do At GW No. 84, take in the view from the top of the Washington Monument. Now, how many people here can actually say that they have done that?

Back in January I put together a list of the things in Washington that I hadn't done. These were the tourist attractions that D.C. is known for, that when you live here you really don't get a chance to visit. There was ice skating at the Sculpture Garden, seeing a show at the Kennedy Center, and of course going to the top of the Washington Monument.

So in late February my friends and I put on our most touristy looking clothing, fitted ourselves with a video camera, and embarked on our mile-long vacation to the Washington Monument. The view is amazing, and as we gazed in each direction it brought back a rush of memories from the last four years, whether it was looking towards the Capitol, where I've worked for the last year and a half, or looking towards Foggy Bottom, where we've all been working for much longer than that.

But the best part wasn't the view. It was the time spent pretending to be out-of-towners with my closest friends. Realizing that the time we had together was vanishing, each minute counted, and the Washington Monument was time well spent. The moral I took from this story: The Washington Monument isn't about the view; it's about who you take in the view with.

College is the best four years of your life, or so I was told by everyone who attended my high school graduation party. Study hard, they said, but have fun too. As four years turned into three and three into two and two to one all too quickly, I finally realized that they were right.

However, the most valuable lessons were not learned by studying hard. Don't get me wrong, professors. A lot of lessons were learned that way. But the best lessons were learned by having fun, too.

Things To Do At GW No. 12, check out the Hippodrome's bowling lanes and video arcades on the fifth floor of the Marvin Center. The key words there are "check out." What started as a fun freshman year activity with friends quickly spiraled out of control. By sophomore year I was playing on intramural bowling teams with names like "Moony's Dance Party" and "Murphy's Four," and this year I managed to take bowling as a one-credit course.

For those of you who are laughing, I quote Professor Ledesma's syllabus when I say that "Bowling is a lifetime sport that can be enjoyed by all." And no, I'm not kidding: There really is a syllabus and a final.
But for me bowling started as an activity to be shared by friends and it ended that way as well. However, senior year I learned that too much of it can be harmful. Bowling in class two days a week caused tendinitis in my elbow and gave my roommate a bad back. The moral I took from this story: Like many things in life, bowling is great, in moderation.

Things To Do At GW No. 21: Fall in love, fall out of love, fall in love again. We're not going to go there. Let's just say that there was a moral to that story, too. Parents, ask your kids about their experiences with No. 21. I'll bet there's at least one that you didn't know about.

Things To Do At GW No. 2: Eat a Minush dog. Last night after we said goodbye to our parents for the night, my roommates and I decided that it was time for one last trip to Minush. Ironically for me, it was my first. In my four years at GW I have never made that journey to the food court across from Tower Records. My roommates found this unacceptable and, despite my appeals to go to bed, they dragged me with them, and I experienced my first Minush dog.

Now, I've had a lot of hot dogs in my life, but I can honestly say that this is the best thing that I have ever tasted, period. I now know what people mean when they say you simply must have the Minush dog. The moral I took from this story: Sometimes others know what is better for you than you do.

In sharing my stories, I'm hoping that you realize that "Things To Do" are not just things to do. They are life's lessons, things to be experienced, and memories that should stay with us forever. We all have stories and memories, echoes from our past that can be triggered by the smallest prompts. For instance, only GW students can look at the back of a five, ten, or twenty dollar bill and be reminded of move-in day at Thurston or HOVA just blocks from those landmarks. But for me it was the list of 101 Things To Do At GW that prompted this retrospective.

These memories should be a guide to how we live our lives. Abraham Lincoln, who used to live right over there, once said of life: "And in the end it is not the years in your life that count, it is the life in your years."

In the coming years we will all be confronted with many to-do lists, both professional and personal. It is my hope that you will look at these, not as tasks to be completed, but as opportunities to put the life into your years, to learn about who you are and to grow into who you will become.

Things To Do At GW No. 101: Graduate in the city of Presidents. You can insert your own moral for this story.

Thank you.

©2004 The George Washington University Office of University Relations, Washington, D.C.
Submit questions/comments