It may seem far too early in my life to be considering a bucket list, as many formulate these things when they are in their mid-40s and feel as though they didn’t achieve what they wanted in their younger years.
But I for one have quite the collection of goals and activities that I want to achieve and partake in before I am 30. Hopefully this article will inspire you to think of a few of your own goals to pursue in the not-so-distant future.
One of my goals which I have wanted to achieve since I was young, is to have one of my short novels published. This has always been a dream of mine, as writing is my strong passion and hobby. I’ve written many short stories in the past with the idea in mind that “this will be the one”; however, often the plot fizzles out of these stories or I lose interest in the characters I’ve created.
The joys of sharing a story I’ve written with the world and holding a physical copy of my work are things I long for. To achieve this goal, I am going to keep working at perfecting my short novel, and one day will hopefully be able to get the money together for it to be published!
Another one of my goals focuses more on the career aspect of my life. By the time I am 30, I would love to be a secondary-school teacher. This has again been quite a long-term goal, probably since I was in Year 12. I feel that children fulfilling their full potential in school is so important, as during my time in secondary education I had the best teachers you could ask for, and they did wonders for me.
I’d love to give to other children what my teachers gave to me: the lesson that putting a substantial amount of effort into things really pays off in the long run, though it may be difficult at the time. To achieve this goal of becoming a teacher, after my degree here at Lancaster I hope to complete a teaching degree specialising in religious studies.
Now we’re on to the good stuff! By the time I am 30, I’d love to have travelled around Europe and the USA. I’ve always wanted to travel and see more of the world, and hopefully in due time I will be able to do so. I am quite keen to venture out on my own and soak up cultures and new ways of life in my own time and at my own pace.
As well as this, and slightly less “cool” of me, I’d love to visit Disney World in Florida, as I’ve never been and the child in me would most certainly love it. Clearly, this goal requires a fair amount of cash, but in a while I hope that I will be able to say I travelled well while I could!
Another light-hearted goal I have for my bucket list, is to own a dog! Ever since I lost my dog in July last year, I have been dying to get another. I absolutely love them. I am hoping once I’ve graduated from university, the first thing I will end up doing is getting a dog, no matter where I live, as long as I have an okay income and enough to support the dog. (My grandmother has also agreed to this goal and offered half the funds for when the time comes… much to my mother’s enjoyment.)
Let’s move back to the more serious goals on my list. I am very interested in helping children and young people achieve their full potential and making sure they will be able to get the qualifications they need to go on to do what they desire after school. As well as this, I’d also love to help children and young people who are disadvantaged in some way or need more specialised help during their education, whether they come from a low-income household, or are disabled or have behavioural difficulties.
My mother is a carer who works with severely disabled adults and I really admire this about her. Therefore, hopefully by the time I am 30, I too would love to help those who need it, and perhaps specialise in pastoral care in the school in which I ultimately end up working.
Leading on from the above, I’d also love to do some charity work. I’ve always wanted to help at a homeless shelter in a city, like Manchester or Edinburgh, as I feel the experience would be so rewarding. As well as this, I’d also like to do a similar sort of thing with abandoned animals, working within an animal shelter and helping animals who need a home.
I’ve always had a great love of animals, and the fact that so many of them today need help to just survive is a big motivation for me to step up. I do what I can now, but with inadequate funds and possibly a lack of knowledge and confidence, I feel pretty limited.
Before I am 30, I would love to help care for and support animals all over the world, from dogs and cats to whales and polar bears. To do this, I’d love to fit my travels around some form of animal or environmental activism which would directly support charities and allow me to physically help the animals myself.
A slightly more grown-up goal for my bucket list, is that before I am 30 I would love to own my own home. Even though my bucket list contains a fair amount of travel, at heart I am a total home girl and would love to own a home in or around my local area of Cumbria.
From being a little girl, I have always found the idea of interior design fun. I used to circle pieces of furniture inside the Argos catalogue when I was a kid, and now I look online at fancy boutique items and artwork. I can’t wait to make this fantasy a reality. I’d love for my home to be rather quaint, a cottage-style, which might also need some restoration and interior work doing to it. This is probably a nod to my love of Homes Under the Hammer.
If I were to own such a home before I am 30, I’d feel a bit more grown-up, which isn’t exactly something I long to do, but it would be nice to feel as though I have my life together. It would also mean I could start expanding my dog family!
So, those are the main goals I hope to achieve before I am 30. As I’ve been writing this article, it has come to my attention that I have quite a lot of them, and to be honest as I’ve reached the end of my list, it seems a little daunting. Especially those goals which involve me being responsible, self-reliant and… grown-up.
But the more I think about them, the more I want to pursue each and every one. Life is what you make of it, it’s the longest thing you will ever do, so it is up to you to fill it with worth-while and useful pursuits.
I feel the main theme running through my goals is to help other people, and this is definitely something I want to do more of, starting right now, as I get so much enjoyment from seeing people achieve what they want to from life. I hope this article has inspired you in some way to think about your future goals. No matter how near or far away you picture yourself achieving them, I wish you good luck.
