A bucket list is generally defined as a list of things to complete before one dies. Four guys from Victoria, British Columbia, created a bucket list and managed to pull off one substantial item listed: make a television show. Students Ben, Dave, Duncan and Jonnie comprise the members of the MTV show “The Buried Life” and will be visiting Mississippi State University today speaking in the Union Ballroom at 5:30 p.m. Before becoming a television show, the four guys simply went out on a two-week jaunt to complete as much of the list as possible. According to their website, they wanted a change of scenery and made it happen.
 ”We borrowed an RV, bought a camera on eBay, threw a party to raise money for gas and hit the road for two weeks one summer before returning to university. We never expected ‘The Buried Life’ to be more than a two-week road trip,” they said. That grew into a documentary, which grew into a serialized television show, and after six years, the guys are still crossing items off their list.
Student Association director of speakers Katilin DeWitt said the message of “The Buried Life” drew SA to select the guys out of their many diverse options to bring to campus.
“College is a trying time in students’ lives – discovering ourselves, our beliefs, our dreams, our goals. We meet others who have their entire lives planned out, and others who live day to day. The people we meet and the experiences we live through define us, and an enriched life is the product of us acting on our dreams,” she said.
As well as their story of living life without hesitance, DeWitt said seeing “The Buried Life” guys living out their dreams at college age is relevant to students.
“So many people our age do not believe they can achieve certain things because they are ‘too young.’ The same can be said of people who do not do things because they think they are ‘too old.’ This belief is a disease that can and does prevent people from pushing themselves and realizing their dreams,” she said.
DeWitt said the SA Cabinet Speaker’s Committee asked students on the Drill Field to sign a banner with goals on their bucket lists. DeWitt said one item on her list is to adopt a child, and junior educational psychology major Jackson Donald shared his bucket list as well. Things such as “bake a cake, roast my own coffee, backpack across Europe alone, fly in a plane, see M83 live” were included among a wide range of experiences both near and far.
As a different take on the concept of a bucket list, unbucket is an app created by Elliot Darvick and Brian Berman that takes the idea and makes bucket-listing more personal. Darvick said the app functions as the antithesis of a bucket list.
“Instead of a list of things to do by yourself before you die, it’s a list of things to do while you’re living – with the people you care about most,” he said. “Pick a list title (i.e. “Before We Graduate MSU”), invite your friends to join the list (which allows them to view and add things), start adding items (i.e. “attend an MSU Choral concert”) and go live that list. As you complete items, list members can collectively add memories in the form of photos, videos and text notes.”
Darvick said the idea of the app came in the form of a gift from him to his mother.
“It started as a Mother’s Day gift – I gave my mom a list of things we could do together, but in our respective cities since she and I live thousands of miles apart,” he said.
From there Darvick said he took this idea, combined it with his passion for technology and teamed up with Berman, his friend since college (also passionate about technology) and the constantly evolving app was born.
For more information about “The Buried Life,” visit theburiedlife.com, and for more information on unbucket (and to begin using the app) visit unbucket.com/beta/msu.