I recently made a bucket list for senior year. Number one on that list? Reading the Student Digest.
"Seriously," my friend announced in the middle of lunch at Thorne, "who even opens the digest?" Well, I have good news for all the mass e-mailers and digest posters at Bowdoin: you've got another reader in Abby Snyder.
After seeing the Regurgitator on a whim last weekend, I've made it a personal goal to attend at least some of the countless events that are posted daily on the student digest. At the risk of embarrassing myself, I must admit that I can't remember the last time I voluntarily went to an academic lecture, an Improvabilities performance or an a cappella concert. Judge me; I dare you.
There is good news though, and things are changing quickly for me. I'm on a mission—perhaps too late—to see a little more of what Bowdoin has to offer.
So, what was my source of inspiration for this new outlook? Well, anyone who was in the Pub last Friday night can attest to the fact that "The Regurgitator" was epic.
I'll set the scene for you. Over 70 Bowdoin students packed themselves around the stage in the Pub, which reeked of stale beer, sweet potato fries and dirty dancing from the night before. An unassuming man stood onstage, haphazardly arranging a table with a wine glass full of sugar, a tub of gold fish, a yellow pool ball, a light bulb, tacks, nails, a lock and other miscellaneous objects. Could he be the man who was about to perform?
As the clock struck 9 p.m., the crowd discovered that the unidentified man was simply introducing the legendary Stevie Starr, or "The Regurgitator." With his accolades, from the Guinness Book of World Records to an appearance on the Tonight Show, Starr might have expected a different kind of venue. He was used to performing in front of hundreds. I caught myself thinking, "Thank God at least some of my friends showed up."
Starr hopped on stage wearing simple khaki pants and a silver sequin vest, sans undershirt. After wiggling his hips and shouting in a Scottish brogue, "Get in my belly!"—think Fat Bastard from Austin Powers—Starr popped a light bulb in his mouth and swallowed it whole. Obviously, this freakish feat alone was instant gratification.
Throughout the night, Starr ingested a Rubik's cube, a nail, coins, a lock and key, pin tacks attached to magnets...the list goes on. However, the real kick was that he could bring objects back up on command. After gulping down at least a half-cup of sugar and drinking two glasses of water, Starr proceeded to bring the sugar back up, completely dry. This was definitely better than my usual nightly dose of online television.
He then got the audience involved—me included—when he asked the girls in the audience for their rings. After swallowing our precious jewelry, he beckoned us girls on stage. Before I knew what was happening, peer pressure and a sudden need to live in the moment had gotten me on stage. I was half convinced he would hypnotize one of us into swallowing a gold fish. Thankfully, Starr was the only one to regurgitate live fish that night.
But just think, the next time that you attend a performance, you could be introduced to an entirely new crowd at Bowdoin.
"Wow," they might say, "there's that girl who touched Stevie Starr!" I know, fame is pretty awesome.
By the time Starr finished, he had played a human slot machine, filled up a half-empty lighter with gas from his stomach and held a flapping fish tail between his lips. The audience couldn't have been more pleased, and I had no doubt that those who had chosen to stay in and pregame had missed out.
Since I seldom read the digest before last week—unless I was truly desperate and in need of more ways to procrastinate—I would have had no idea that such an interesting event was going on unless a friend had convinced me to attend. I also think it's a safe assumption to say that I'm not the only one at Bowdoin plagued by such apathy. To be completely candid, that hour of shock and awe and regurgitation might have been the highlight of last weekend for me. Again, go ahead and judge me.
However, my point is not that you might think I had a lame weekend. I'm making it my goal to go to more Bowdoin events—speakers, performances and everything else there is to do on campus not involving a keg.
As a senior, I feel that I've waited too long to get involved in events like "The Regurgitator." Yet for all you lucky underclassmen, there's still time to experience everything Bowdoin has to offer.
Befriend the mass e-mails and—though it is probably unnecessary to encourage you—embrace procrastination. And to my fellow seniors, isn't the idea of a Bowdoin bucket list enticing? If you agree, don't forget to add, "Read the digest" to your list.
Abby Snyder is a member of the Class of 2011.