By Rachael Bentley
The guys from the reality MTV show The Buried Life came to visit CCSU to ask the question: “What do you want to do before you die?”
On Tuesday night, in Welte Auditorium, over 500 students sat and listened to how this group decided to pack up and travel around North America, in a purple transit bus named Penelope, in the hopes of completing their list of “100 Things To Do Before You Die.”
The twist is that for every item they cross off of their own list, they vow to help a total stranger cross something off of their own “Bucket List.”
The company was created by Ben Nemtin, Dave Lingwood, Duncan Penn and Jonnie Penn who are British Columbia University students. They created this “extreme hobby” after being inspired by a specific stanza in the 1852 Matthew Arnold poem entitled “The Buried Life.”
“But often, in the world’s most crowded streets, but often, in the din of strife, there rises an unspeakable desire after the knowledge of our buried life”.
During the presentation students were able to get up and tell the cast of the show, and the entire audience, what they wanted to do before they died, as well as show off some of their own talents by singing or dancing on stage.
The cast joked around and retold the stories of their travels and narrated a few key moments about what made them realize this is how they wanted to spend their summers.
Backstage after the show, Duncan Penn explained why they ask students the famous question and what stuck out to them the most.
“The people who were forthcoming and honest about what they wanted always hits home, and being able to stand up and say it in front on that many people takes a lot of guts,” Penn said. “Once you say out loud what it is you want to do, it gets you really thinking about it and that’s important”.
Many CCSU students at the event were impressed that CAN and events management were able to put together an event this large with a group as famous as they are.
Stanley Dombrowski was one of these students and he and his friends were one of the many who were lined up outside the doors of Welte Auditorium to get inside.
“We came because I’m a big fan of the show, it’s a great thing that these guys are doing and I’m happy to support it”, Dombrowski said. “I just feel like something really positive will come out of it”.
Freshman Kailyn Craham didn’t know much about the show, but the event was still something she looked forward to.
“I actually didn’t know what it was but a lot of my friends were really into the show so I just decided to come and see what it was going to be like” Craham explained.