I can put the two blue bins in the trunk, and the set of white plastic shelves in the backseat. My bedding can go in the front passenger seat, and my books - the mental game of Tetris I was playing trying to figure out how to load up my car before making the long drive back to Hamilton was starkly interrupted by this stunning revelation: I'm a senior. I'm a senior! I realized I've done some pretty cool things during the last three years, but I only have one more to squeeze in all of the cool things I haven't done yet. Colgate's not just a beautiful school on a hill in the middle of nowhere surrounded by farms with a "work-hard-play-hard" atmosphere. There are lots of unique traditions that you simply can't find anywhere else.

1. Take a class from every academic building

If you know me at all, then you know this list wouldn’t be complete without one academically-related activity. Yay, liberal arts!

2. Slice with ranch

Confession: I’ll be a senior and I still haven’t tried it. I don’t actually like ranch dressing, but apparently this combination is revolutionary and changes the way you eat pizza forever. And you don’t even have to be drunk to appreciate it.

3. Eat at every restaurant downtown

Yes, including Main Moon.

4. DanceFest

Whether you dance in it, wait in the chapel-to-Hascal-long line for it, or Livestream it, you're participating in the most highly attended event on campus and arguably the most-anticipated every semester. Some of the performances literally give me the chills.

5. Watch the sunset on top of Hamilton Hill

Upstate New York gets some really beautiful sunsets, and I’m sure watching one from the top of a hill is much better than watching one from your cube in the lib.

6. Go to Trivia Night at the Inn or Donovan’s Pub

Of the international student population at Colgate, what is the most-represented country behind China?

(I only went to Trivia Night one time, at Donovan’s, and this was the only question I answered correctly.)

7. Have Tollhouse Cookie Pie on Colgate Day

Last November, my friend and I went to the Inn on Colgate Day and had no shame declining a dinner menu and then ordering a slice of pie with a tall glass of milk, while the football team sat a few tables away. To clarify, a slice each, not one to share. Obviously.

8. Colgate vs. Cornell Hockey Game

Coming from a high school with the rowdiest student section in the Shore Conference, I get to re-live my glory days as a Hooligan at one of the few sporting events a year that garners a full house and has so much school spirit you’d think you were at a state-school football game. Plus, we just got a new hockey rink, so that’s cool.

9. Study Abroad or Extended Study

I could write a novel about how my best semester at Colgate didn’t actually happen at Colgate. Our school makes it possible and even encourages us to go abroad, whether it’s for three weeks during winter break or for an entire semester. Take advantage of the opportunity.

10. Find the best ice cream in town

There's Troops Scoops in Bouckville, and Gilligan's just ten minutes down 12B, famous for it's Raider Passion. There's also Maxwell's, which I personally prefer for its chocolates, and YoGate, which I guess you can lump into this category. I hear Donovan's has some pretty good milkshakes, and of course there's the one and only Byrne Dairy. There's one clear winner here.

11. Farmer’s Market

Colgate loves to boast about its campus-community bond, and the Saturday farmer's market is a prime example. Plus, if you're a peanut butter snob like I am, then you'll love Amber's Nut Butters. The cinnamon raisin kind is my favorite.

12. Get out of the Colgate bubble

Take a road trip to Syracuse, go hiking in the Adirondacks, apple-picking at Critz Farms, swimming in the Lebanon Reservoir or Lake Moraine, or exploring at Chittenango Falls. Don't forget brunch at Suzi's and Quacks.

13. Take the classic pic on the Colgate sign

I’ll bet you a Slices token that someone made you take this cliche picture when you first visited, or when you moved in, and you’ll probably take it again when you graduate. Tradition never fails here at ‘Gate.

Here are some honorable mentions that didn’t quite make the list (because obviously there could only be 13): attend a brown bag or seminar, stargaze on the field of dreams, see This is Not a Play About Sex and The Vagina Monologues at least once, utilize Career Services, take a nap in Cooley, Case, or another building that's not a dorm, Instagram a cool picture of campus, eat a Chipwich from admissions, have your picture featured on the Colgate website, jump into Taylor Lake, have dinner with a professor, visit the windmills, go trapshooting, and microwave a coop cookie for 17 seconds.