December 21, 2012 marks the end of first semester finals and the beginning of Winter Break, but the Mayan calendar may predict that the day will be full of doom instead of festivities.
Mayan calendars discovered in Mexico and Guatemala record December 21, 2012 as their last day. Although the theory has been disproved by NASA and other sources, it still raises questions on how students would react if the world were to actually end in nine days.
“There are many things I could do, like skiing,” sophomore Libby Kaiser said. “I would blow off finals and drive without my license.”
One widespread approach to the situation is that students would do all the things they never had the opportunity, or the nerve, to do before in their lives.
“I would skydive because it’s dangerous and if the world is ending, well, Y.O.L.O.” freshman Charlie Mosley said.
Mosley is not alone in his daredevil idea; many students, such as sophomore Andrew Chasen, agreed that they would go skydiving.
The range of theoretical plans on how to spend their last days varies immensely from student to student. Junior Riley Brown would simply want to “kiss a girl in the snow,” while junior Artem Sarnytsky would “go to Australia because of koalas.” For others, making even the smallest of changes without the eventual repercussions would be satisfying.
“I would definitely change the way I eat. I would gorge and eat whatever I wanted,” senior Josh Smith said. “I would waste all my money on any food that came to mind.”
Some believe that social norms may be rejected in an apocalyptic situation, and they would take advantage of such an opportunity.
“If [the world] was going to end, I’d go around to everyone and tell them what I think of them, good or bad,” junior Seth Feldstein said.
Despite the more extreme bucket list entries, there are more sentimental approaches to such an issue. Chasen, along with many others, would concentrate on who they would face their final days with, instead of adventures they would partake in.
“I would visit with my family and closest friends and say goodbye to them,” Chasen said. “On December 21, I would go to church and pray.”
Whether or not the world will end in the coming weeks, the theories have pushed students to reflect on their lives and contemplate what would be most important to them in their final days.
“The world isn’t going to end on December 21, but if it were I know that I would want to spend my last few weeks with my friends and family because they mean everything in the world to me,” junior Joe Goldberg said. “On a side note, I would also like to go base jumping off of the Statue of Liberty. Hey, the world only ends once.”