What Every Badger Must Do Before Leaving Campus

It used to be that if you wanted to be a Badger, all you had to do was come along with me, by the light, by the light, by the light of the moon. But today, evidently, it’s not so simple.

We at Badger Insider asked you, our readers, to tell us the most important things every student has to do at least once before graduating, if he or she wants to have a true Badger experience. Your votes came in by the hundreds — with many of you voting often or with very long lists. (Ken Chia ’97 of Washington, D.C.: we’re looking at you.) The things you mentioned were so numerous and so varied that we knew we couldn’t just come up with one Top 14 Must-Do list (although we did — you’ll find it at the end of this article). We knew we had to sift and winnow out the top choices in several different classes of activities.

And so we present to you our list of lists, the top things every true Badger must do, eat, see, or hear before leaving campus, as selected by you, the members of WAA. If these choices don’t match with your opinions — well, we expect that. The whole point is to spark debate. So let the arguing begin!

Why fourteen? Well, we could say that, numerologically speaking, fourteen is a very lucky number — twice as lucky as seven. Do all these things, and you’re sure to win the lottery, find the love of your life, yadda, yadda, yadda. But actually, there was just a big tie for fifteenth place. Since we don’t have room to run all the items in fifteenth place, we decided to cut them all out.

14. Go "traying" on a snowy day. (Returning the tray is optional.)
13. Walk the Lakeshore Path.
12. Celebrate your birthday at the Nitty Gritty.
11. Have a bratwurst at State Street Brats (formerly the Brathaus).
10. Take in a concert at the Rathskeller.
9. Hike in the UW Arboretum.
8. Celebrate Halloween on State Street. (Getting pepper-sprayed is optional.)
7. Sit in Abe’s lap (and hope your date’s not a virgin — otherwise he’ll stand and dump you on the ground).
6. Dance (especially a polka) at Fifth Quarter after a football game.
5. Go to an ice hockey game and yell “Sieve!” at the appropriate time — or an inappropriate time.
4. Walk out to picnic point with the love of your life — or at least your love of the moment.
3. Cheer the Badgers at a football game.
2. Eat a scoop of Babcock Hall ice cream.
1. Have a beer on the Union Terrace and watch the sun set.

Fudge-bottom pie
Pizza from Ian’s
Gyro from Parthenon
Blueberry pancakes from Mickie’s Dairy Bar
Plazaburger (with extra secret sauce) from the Plaza

Visit Camp Randall’s trophy room
Make money parking cars
Jump Around
Sit in section O; tell P they suck
Sit in section P; tell O they suck
Sit in section N; ignore O and P
See the Marching Band at Union South, then follow them to the game

Go to the Chazen Museum of Art.
Take an elective that has nothing to do with your major.
Join a political organization.
Join Hoofers.
Join a fraternity or sorority.
Stay in Madison over the summer and take classes.
Take a road trip.
Skip a class.

Listen to the man in the orange jump suit who plays piccolo on Library Mall.
Listen to buskers on State Street.
Go to Marching Band practice.
Take in a Pat McCurdy concert.
Listen to a Carillon concert.

Plead with a professor to improve your final grade.
Pay your library fines.
Be tear-gassed.
Tend bar or wait tables at a State Street bar or restaurant.
Build a loft bed in a res-hall room.
Climb Bascom Hill. Every day. Even during an ice storm.

Hang out at Canterbury Books — it sold out in 2002.
(For men) Sneak into Liz Waters. It became coed in 2006 — now what’s the point?
Play ping-pong at Union South — we’re anticipating a little, as it’s being torn down in 2008.
Do registration the old-fashioned way — running from building to building. Registration is now done online.
Slide down Science Hall’s fire escape. It was removed in the 1980s.