It’s time to open up a new note on your phone, share it with your friends, and start building your senior year bucket list. Whether you are a current junior or senior already halfway through the year, it’s never too early or late to start your list.
Senior year may be filled with so many fun and exciting experiences already, but creating a bucket list is such a fun way to take advantage of all that your last year of high school has to offer! So let’s get started—here is a list of 12 things for your high school senior year bucket list.
1. Attend the Last Football Game of the Year
Or other sports games if your school does not have a football team. Football games and sports games are a great way to support your school and get into the school spirit. Especially if you don’t normally attend sports games, attending some, or even just one, makes for a great bucket list item. You can get a group of friends together (or go solo) and head to the last football game of the year. Dress in school spirit and make it an evening of fun!
2. Attend Senior Year Dances
Some people love high school dances… and others not so much. If you love them, make a point to attend all your school dances senior year. Whether you go with a date or a group of friends, find little ways to make the night extra special. And if you haven’t ever been, a great bucket list idea is to dance the night away at your last-ever high school dance. You can take a lot of pictures and eat at a new restaurant or have a fun dinner at home before the dance.
3. Plan a Dinner Party with your Friends
Finding new and different ways to have fun with your friends is a great way to keep senior year lighthearted and fun. You could plan a dinner party with your friends by creating a theme for it and requiring a dress code (it can be silly, e.g., ugly holiday sweaters, or serious, e.g., dresses and polos). However, you and your friends like to have fun, make the theme something you think everyone may enjoy. A few examples of dinner party ideas are Friendsgiving, spring picnic, sunset beach dinner, or holiday-themed.
4. Senior Sunrise Breakfast
This may be a fun idea if you can get your whole senior class involved! If you can organize it successfully, having breakfast with your whole senior class in the parking lot of your high school before school starts may be super fun. You can plan for people to bring food and drinks such as muffins, orange juice, granola bars, donuts, bagels, and more.
If you are unable to do so in your school parking lot, organize a group of friends to go to a breakfast diner before school! It’s a fun way to celebrate that you are a senior and make the school day more exciting.
5. Write a Letter to Your Future Self
High school is a fundamental time in your life and can be filled with exciting things. Write a letter to your future self documenting all these fun times and share how you think your life will be in the coming years.
Choose a date you wish to open this letter on—2 years from now, 4 years from now, or college graduation. You can choose whatever date you’d like and be sure to mark it on the front of the letter and leave it in a safe place so you can come back to it when it’s time.
6. Graduation Party
This item may already be on your senior bucket list ideas (or maybe your must-do list), but if it’s not, add it! Graduation parties are a time to celebrate you and all the amazing accomplishments you’ve had throughout high school and your entire schooling so far. Graduation parties can be just with family. They also can include friends, neighbors, and anyone else you wish to invite.
7. Participate in Special Senior Events
Your school or community may have special senior-specific events or nights. For instance, senior night at sports games, senior awards, and other senior gatherings. Whatever the event may be, add it to your senior bucket list ideas. These events are to celebrate and highlight seniors! Enjoy the special times dedicated to your class and your accomplishments.
8. Senior Year Photos
Your senior year is very special, so make sure you document it. You can get your senior photos taken by a professional or you can have a friend or family member take them and then use editing apps such as Lightroom Mobile and Snapseed. If you are taking your own photos, this is a great opportunity to learn a new skill: photo editing!
9. Have a Photoshoot With Your Friends
Speaking of photos, they are great for capturing moments and memories. Add having a photo shoot with your friends to your senior year bucket list. Maybe your photoshoot is done while wearing regalia, or maybe it’s just fun pictures. Either way, this may be a fun way to spend the last few months with your high school friends.
10. Try Something Outside Your Comfort Zone
High school can be a time for exploration and trying new things. And, although you may be thinking that freshman year is the time to try something new, it can be super fun to step outside of your comfort zone senior year too. Consider joining a new club, a new sport, or trying a new activity.
11. Leave a Legacy, Organize a Fundraising/Volunteer Event At Your School
Make your lasting mark on your high school by organizing a fundraising event during your senior year. Choose a cause that is meaningful to you. Organize a group of friends and peers together and plan out a fundraiser. It could be a bake sale, an after-school volunteer opportunity, or a friendly competition between grade levels to see who can donate the most in coins (the heaviest coin bucket wins)!
12. Cook a Meal With Friends
Learning how to cook a meal is not only a fun bucket list item to do with your friends but also can be a useful skill in college. You may begin to make your own meals in college, so having a fun night with friends to cook can help set the tone for cooking on your own. Find a recipe to make and have fun cooking (and eating) with your friends!
Whatever is on your bucket list this senior year, we hope you make it a great one.
For more college prep information, check out College Raptor’s toolset to help you find the right college for you.
