Jacqueline Cordes · The Bucket List
Live as though time matters
Jacqueline’s bucket list is less about collecting experiences than using limited time as motivation to begin.
I don’t expect this to be my last year on the planet. But I often make decisions as though it is. Despite the fact that I’m 23 years old, I have a lengthy bucket list that I’m checking off as fast as I can. Taking Existentialism in high school came at the right time to help me understand that fear of death isn’t necessarily a bad thing and can be very motivating to live your life to the fullest. When deciding what to tackle, I often ask myself, “Would I be okay living my life and never doing this thing?” If the answer is no, I think, “I’d better get started then.” Working through my bucket list has taught me some valuable lessons.
“Would I be okay living my life and never doing this thing?”
Some lessons are highly specific
Some of my lessons learned wouldn’t be particularly helpful to you, like “When entering an abandoned complex of buildings in Belgium, pay close attention to where you got in because it might be surrounded by a huge wall and have many similar-looking buildings.” That was a good lesson.
Or, “When climbing up a wind turbine as part of a tour in a remote location in Germany, make sure to check the public transportation schedule so you don’t need to rely on the kindness of strangers to drive you 30 minutes back to your hotel.” These seem more like me-things, but some of my bucket list items taught me things that you might find useful.
Find the experts around you
For example, one of my earliest bucket list goals was to learn Mandarin Chinese. I love learning non-Latin script languages and would later tackle Japanese and Korean, but as a student at The Webb Schools, I had a particularly valuable resource: friends who are native speakers! Even before I could speak a word, I would eat lunch with international students speaking Chinese and soak up as much as I could. One time, a friend helped me with my pronunciation for 30 minutes during a peccary trip. Before long, I could say “日本人吃热的鳕鱼和绿色的软糖.” The Webb teachers were also excellent, but the lesson I learned from this is that as you try to accomplish your goals, find the experts in that field around you; they’re everywhere!
Find collaborators
Another bucket list item of mine is to illustrate and publish a sci-fi graphic novel I’ve been working on, called The Silent War 2086. I started working on it in high school, took two years to write the screenplay, then started on the artwork in Media Arts class. I spent three months drawing the first panel (a futuristic London skyline), and my friends all joked that by the time I was done, the story would be taking place in the present day. They weren’t wrong, and for a couple years, The Silent War was on the back burner, and 2086 was approaching quickly.
After graduating from college, I asked myself that question: “Would I be okay living my life and never finishing Silent War?” The answer was a clear no, but recognising how much time it would take, I realised I needed help. After a long search, I finally found a comic book artist to help me. I illustrate the roughs, then send them to him, and he does the inking and colouring, before sending it back to me in Photoshop format so I can make my final edits. We’re now over 25% finished, and we’re on track to finish way before the year 2086 (something more like 2027). From this, I learned to find collaborators to help the seemingly impossible dreams come true.
Never give up on an improbable goal
Speaking of impossible dreams, I consider myself terrible at reading music, and used to be worse, but I didn’t let that stop me from performing one of the hardest piano pieces ever written. In high school, I found a program called Synthesia, which visualises music in a simplified way for piano players, and became obsessed, practising up to 8 hours a day. Before long, I was tackling Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu. I heard another student playing that piece at piano club and was very impressed. The advisor, Mr. Burns, then gave him some tips, and I couldn’t believe my ears at the improvement. After that, I sought out Mr. Burns as a piano teacher.
He was curious if my unusual learning method could handle more challenging pieces and continued raising the level until I suggested the notorious beast, Liszt’s La Campanella. He admitted later that he expected me to fail (I did end up getting five different injuries), but I was stubborn. After finally conquering it, I added it to my bucket list to perform it in public. Eventually, my opportunity arrived in a “duelling pianos” fundraiser I was co-headlining. I proposed concluding the concert with a “crash and burn” challenge to properly set the audience’s and my own expectations. To my surprise, I did not crash and burn and was humbled by a standing ovation! This journey taught me the value of grit and to never give up on my goals, no matter how crazy they seem.
Get started
You’re never too old or too young to start on your bucket list. I encourage you to find experts, find collaborators, and never give up.
— Jacqueline
