UW bucket list: Things to do before graduating

| September 30, 2026

Have you ever wondered what you should do before graduating from UW? This bucket list has you covered!

On campus:

  • Explore all the tunnels (Hint: one entrance is in SCH)
  • Attend the Renison One Sky Festival, an annual festival that allows students to experience Japanese, Chinese, and Korean culture at Waterloo
  • Become an Orientation Week leader
  • Grab lemonade from the EngSoc C&D in PSE
  • Get a photo with your faculty mascot
  • Grab a burger and waffle fries (with cheese) from the Bomber
  • Join an intramural or varsity team
  • Participate in ENVigorate, the faculty of environment’s annual community festival with live music, food, a marketplace, and swap shop
  • Take a walk around Ring Road
  • Study in the EV1 courtyard on campus
  • Try Liquid Assets’ tomato basil soup and garlic buns
  • Join a club and stick with it for the term
  • Visit the Grad House on campus
  • Sled down the CIF lower field hill
  • Tour the Gustav Bakos Observatory
  • Watch a play by the UW theatre and performance program
  • Try rock climbing at PAC
  • Study in the Earth Sciences Museum in EIT
  • Attend the Campus Life Fair in SLC
  • Talk to your professors
  • Go on exchange for a study term
  • Move to somewhere you’ve never been for co-op
  • Visit the installation Fountain on the 2nd floor of Hagey Hall
  • Visit the hidden biology museum on campus
  • Visit the University of Waterloo Art Gallery, which showcases work from UW artists alongside international artists

Off campus:

  • Get a Vincenzo’s sandwich
  • Go ice skating at the Waterloo Public Square in winter. You can rent skates for cheap at McPhail’s Cycle & Sports Ltd.
  • Buy or trade a book at Old Goat Books
  • Grab a hot chocolate from Old Firehall Confectionery
  • See a movie at the Princess Cinemas
  • Study at Menchie’s
  • Take a GRT adventure around Waterloo Region
  • Eat at LooBapBap
  • Attend a pottery or glassmaking workshop at the Canadian Clay and Glass Museum
  • Visit the Kitchener Farmers’ Market
  • Visit the Pub on King
  • Grab a bite at Famoso
  • Walk a lap around Waterloo Park
  • Attend the Lumen Light Festival
  • Attend the Royal Medieval Faire, an annual event that happens every 3rd Saturday in September at Waterloo Park
  • Café hop in Uptown Waterloo or Downtown Kitchener

This list was crowdsourced from UW alumni:

  • Nathan Cheng — BSc Medicinal Chemistry (‘26)
  • Sarah Edward — Honours BSc in Kinesiology (Co-op), Rehabilitation Sciences Specialization (‘26)
  • Jennifer Chen — Honours BA in English, Technical Writing Specialization, Japanese Language Diploma (‘26)
  • Mahmoud Halloum — Bachelor of Accounting and Financial Management (‘26)
  • Mandeep Chahil — Honours BA in Legal Studies and Sociology (’24)
  • Francesca Girmenia — BSc in Environmental Sciences (‘26)

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