Bristaco’s Bucket List
The 2022 Spring Semester is coming to a close! Students will soon be putting the finishing touches on that last project or concluding their last paper, saying their farewells to the campus, and taking a (much needed) vacation. But before all that, Bristaco the Bear has some important events to check off of the good ole bucket list!
According to Hayden Doherty (she/her), Program Council’s Head of Traditions, the amount of care that went into planning the events of Bristaco’s Bucket List took quite a bit of time, starting as early as last semester and continuing throughout winter break.
Now, for those of you who have been students here at BSU since before 2020, you likely remember these series of events being known as the Big 5. As with many other improvements that have been made around campus, Program Council (PC) decided to give its spring send-off a glow-up.
“People have forgotten the name Big 5, so we kind of used that as a way to rebrand and come up with a different name, so that people feel like they have something big to look forward to in the Spring,” said Doherty.
These five events are to be spaced out over the last stretch of the semester. According to Mariah Porter (she/her), PC’s Spring Tradition Coordinator, the goal was “to spread the fun throughout the whole month, not just one jam packed week!”
Although the 2022 BSU Drag Show has already come and gone, there are still four events left to look forward to:
Music & Arts Festival on April 2 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Bristaco’s Bucket List Carnival on April 18 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Big A$$ Bingo and Drive-In Movie on April 27 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Duck Hunt on May 2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
(Fun fact: one of the editors here at The Comment absolutely loves Duck Day! Can you guess who it is?)
Much to the surprise of many on campus, the Drag Show featured two very famous drag queens who were participants in RuPaul’s Drag Race, Mayhem Miller and Symone. Students were thrilled to have such talented queens be a part of their event. The auditorium was chock-full of bears the night of the show, many of whom cheered their hearts out!
Since the show, many have been wondering how it was that the university was able to book celebrities such as those. But according to Doherty, the entire thing was more of a stroke of luck!
“Mariah Porter did a lot of the outreach, and she did an amazing job bringing in those queens. She actually reached out to the talent agency that they were a part of, and we happened to get lucky with the date we had picked, and they said yes!” said Doherty.
In fact, Porter’s absolute favorite part of the planning process was “interacting with Symone and Mayhem Miller for sure.”
As this is the first in-person Duck Day in years, many students are ecstatic at the idea of spending a day running around campus and trying to spot some rubber duckies! Since this event is campus-wide, every student at BSU has the chance to look. Whether it’s a casual stroll to see if you’ll spy some yellow, or an all-out game of manhunt, all bears are able to participate in this one-day-only event.
“Everyone really likes Duck Day! It’s a good opportunity to get more campus involvement as it’s something that is interactive throughout the whole campus, and it’s always well received, so why not keep bringing it back?” she said. “We reached out to a bunch of different professors and a bunch of different staff from Bridgewater, and they all hid the ducks. Nobody on PC knows where they are hidden, and they do a very good job of keeping it secret!”
With classes ending and finals approaching, it’s important to remember that it’s okay to take a break and have some fun — and the events of Bristaco’s Bucket List are the perfect way to do so. We at The Comment hope that you all have a blast, and when Duck Day comes, may the best bears emerge victorious!
