Some things you just got to do for the sake of the senior bucket list…

With senior year comes the inevitable realization that your time here is limited and with it, the urge to make everything worthwhile. While academic deadlines and post-graduate applications may always be looming on the horizon, memories are the ones that will be remembered, and cherished, in the end. 

Inspired by Bwog’s 2019 twelve hours in JJ’s journey, Bwoggers Alison and Paula, accompanied by guest/friend Michelle, decided to embark on that mission too. From noon of Friday, November 22 to Saturday midnight, they would call JJ’s Place their home. After all, what screams “senior bucket list” more than spending twelve consecutive hours in our campus’s controversial fast-food dining hall located in the basement of a freshman dorm? 

Below is how it went down.

11:57 am. We start our JJ’odyssey at 11:57 am when we meet in the John Jay lounge and literally have to wait for them to open—guys, these writers have never come to JJ’s this early. There are a lot more people than we thought… (spooky), which, when you think about it, makes sense because JJ’s is criminally underrated and our peers should start appreciating it more. JJ’s steals the second spot in our competitive dining hall ranking, only lagging behind the loved-by-all-athletes Hewitt.

12:02 pm. We enter the JJ’s dining hall area and are shocked by how empty and clean it is. Such a view has never graced our eyes. This, unfortunately, only lasts 5 minutes at most since the syrup for our chocolate chip pancakes soon makes a mess of our table. It is because of people like us that JJ’s can never be in its full glory. 

12:33 pm. We have already received our first visitors! To truly mark this momentous experience we have decided to keep a sign-in sheet: this entire week we’ve been telling all our friends to drop by JJ’s to keep us company—maybe we just want witnesses for our descent into insanity.

1:00 pm. One hour in and we feel fine. After, only naturally, sinking into a spiral of self-doubt about our decision, we have finally settled in. And we’re ready to lock in.

1:09 pm. Our non-Bwogger friend, Michelle, joins us in our journey. She was delayed due to a passport-related emergency, but she is here now and that is what matters. “Not in the mood,” she says. “Left and right I have been taking Ls.” Right there, we feel you, Michelle. 

With Michelle’s arrival, our survival kit is complete. Better safe than sorry. And we are never sorry. An odyssey like this requires only the highest level of preparation. 

1:35 pm. JJ’s is bustling with people. Because we have only ever seen JJ’s in the dark hours of the night, except for a few exceptions, we are taken aback by the number of students present. All the tables are packed, and friends are hanging out and sharing laughs before heading out to seize the day. And, oh, JJ’s, what a great place to fuel oneself with energy. 

2 pm. There are certainly fewer people now than 30 minutes ago. People are now out and about, navigating the highs and lows of college life. We, in the meantime, are still here. Standing strong. We chose a good day to embark on this journey since the weather outside is truly dreadful—rainy, windy, and gloomy. 

Surprisingly, we realize, JJ’s is a good place to work. Perhaps it is that JJ’s energy matches whatever chaos is going on inside of our heads. This is the perfect place for Alison to work on her Sociology thesis, or at least that is what she naively believes now. 

2:10 pm. Alison continues her quest for food—she carefully approaches a croissant that’s been flirting with her since we got here. “It looked better from afar,” she says, with a mouthful of potato salad.

Straight from Alison’s mind: I love JJ’s potato and macaroni salads. They eat, and I love to eat them. This is also the first time I’ve had artichoke hearts and my life has been forever changed. I cannot say the same for the celery. I’ve always been curious to see people eating an entire celery, rabbit-style, but boy are they wrong. It tastes awful. I like celery pieces in the chicken sandwiches my mom makes, but not like this. Ah, Americans. I try the croissant but it is not flaky, which is how I like them, how they should be. I disapprove. Ah, oh, the oil. I can sense the oil penetrating my skin. What is worse is I can’t drink water because my bladder is too small and I would have to go to the bathroom every 30 minutes. One of the disadvantages of not even being 5 feet tall. 

This is the first time I’ve experienced JJ’s staff’s rudeness. I used to refuse to believe the myths, but here I stand proven wrong. Oh, JJ’s staff, I had faith in you. Now my heart is shattered, just as my dreams of having a successful meal. The menu for today is not it. 

2:17 pm. Readers, we have decided to treat this article as our therapy journal.

3:02 pm. “Maybe at this point, I should just leave the country,” Paula announces. As seniors, grad school and full-time job applications are what occupy our brains 90% of the time. The future is looming and it is scary. What will be of us? Alison found out yesterday that allegedly Barnard is kicking us out on May 16 even though Commencement is on May 21. Her family is coming from Peru on May 18, probably later, so thank you, Barnard. We’ll go camp out in the subway, we guess. 

3:43 pm. Michelle (we love Michelle!!!) has completely made this space her own now, by blowing on her mushroom-shaped ocarina (we couldn’t make this up if we tried). “I was gonna bring my tap shoes, but I thought it was a little too much,” says Michelle as she continues blowing the everliving hell out of “Twinkle-Twinkle.”

3:48 pm. Alison steps into the kitchen area and it’s so bright. She thinks she has seen God (she is an atheist). It is the quietest it’s been since we arrived. 

4:05 pm. “Time flies when you’re having fun,” Paula says. A third of the way. Paula’s spirits, though low in the beginning, have been raised by Michelle’s playing. “I’m starting to get dizzy,” Michelle admits. Perhaps because of the effort she put into delighting us, and all of JJ’s, with her ocarina.

4:31 pm. We engross in a discussion about our favorite cut of fries. Alison’s are wedges (which is good because that’s what JJ’s has tonight), Paula’s are curly fries, and Michelle’s are McDonald’s apparently (if you consider that a type of fries).

4:35 pm. Alison randomly breaks into bird song using her special bird flute. It sounds like a poor animal is trapped inside JJ’s (everyone is looking at us—what if we get kicked out of JJ’s before the 12 hours are up?).

5:04 pm. We made it. Only 7 more hours to go. Paula has submitted her assignment so she’s done locking in. Success. She is a person to look up to. Another round of chocolate chip pancakes as a little reward. Nothing beats something sweet to raise one’s spirits—even if JJ’s pancakes are so big that eating them makes you question all of your life choices.

In the meantime, Michelle and Alison still need to lock in. Those internship and post-grad applications are not going to write themselves… and let’s not talk about those theses. They need to put aside their musical endeavors and concentrate on being academic weapons. If any employer happens to be reading this, we just want to highlight that Alison, Michelle, and Paula would be great people to hire: they have so much to offer… tenacity, for one. 

JJ’s is emptier than it was at noon and 3:48 pm. The calm before the storm. Brace yourselves for a ride. 

5:40 pm. It is suddenly bustling in our JJ’s HQ. Three of our friends have shown up and we’re finally nearing the halfway mark.

5:54 pm. Two of our closest friends have arrived and plan to stay for a while—there’s nothing greater than a friend who has your back even when you make questionable choices such as spending 12 hours in JJ’s. Our numbers are increasing and the energy is high. We are hyped.

5:45 pm. “I can’t feel my hand—my hand feels like it’s gonna fall off,” says Michelle after putting a “Focus” patch on her wrist (whatever that is)—think caffeine patch but more tea-like ingredients.

6:00 pm. Paula is attempting the focus patch after taking a Tylenol… she feels nothing… We’re halfway through this madness and the general vibe is that we are really fucking full (for Paula, two orders of chocolate chip pancakes is maybe one order too many).

For some reason, the halfway mark also sends us all into a spiral.

6:10 pm. Alison, with a deranged look in her eyes, wonders out loud if she should run some laps or pull out her workout routine here. We respect a fitness queen even if we could never be her. Alison can’t even think clearly because of how full she is—her eyes keep wandering as if reminiscing a time in which she didn’t feel like throwing up.

6:16 pm. Alison puts on the “Focus” patch and immediately locks in.

6:19 pm. Straight from Alison’s mind: I just locked out. I fear JJ’s is not as conducive to working hard as I initially thought. Or maybe the problem is me. 

6:43 pm. We just spotted three men in suits vaping inside JJ’s two tables away from us. They think they’re sneaky, but they’re not. Some respect for your fellow students, guys. We do not approve of this behavior. 

6:45 pm. We have started playing a couples game even though none of us are in a relationship, much less with each other. Alison’s losing her sanity, she looks desperate and like she’s about to commit a murder (her own?).

7:01 pm. Paula is tired but chilling. Michelle is lifeless but focused. Paula is about to start making friendship bracelets. Maybe that will restore the life of the group since it is such a wholesome activity.

7:20 pm. Alison looks up and, finally, with a spark of hope in her eyes says “Oh, they have watermelon!!”

The watermelon is refreshing, reinvigorating our journey with less than 5 hours left. However, Paula and one of our friends realize it has a weird garlic taste. Alison is now wondering if she has lost her taste buds. Regardless, the ending is just in sight. 

7:37 pm. Michelle finally submits her research analyst application to be a corporate slave. It only took seven hours. That is what we call success.

7:40 pm. Alison suddenly looks alive again for some reason—“Oh, only four hours left?!?! I’m fine again, we’re already there, basically…” she daydreams with renewed energy… but are we as close as she thinks?

7:52 pm. Paula is starting to feel sick from the fumes of JJ’s seeping into her skin. Michelle agrees, feeling increasingly nauseous when inhaling the oily stench emanating from the grill station. The food also doesn’t sit well in Michelle’s stomach. (P.S. Paula says it feels good to stand again.)

8:05 pm. Michelle: “Paula, your eye bags are darker.” Paula feels extremely offended, even though the eye bag rumors are true.

8:28 pm. Anjali, one of our lovely Bwog illustrators, comes to visit. She takes a picture of us to design this article’s beautiful header. We fear we don’t look as good as we usually do (if we ever do look good).

We’re now talking about doing a 22-hour JJ’s stay next semester. That will be our last semester here, and we only live once. What is stopping us? The fear of losing our sanity, that’s what. The thing is, sanity is overrated, and if we do it during the last week of classes when everything is crumbling down because of the existential dread produced by a huge period of our lives ending, it will probably be fine. It can be a last hurrah. Our grand farewell to this institution that welcomed us, to this city that despite being cold and hectic at times, offered us a place to temporarily call home.

8:58 pm. Michelle: “I look like a fucking ghost.” Michelle feels drunk, even though she’s been sitting in front of her computer for 8 hours, no alcohol in sight.

9:02 pm. We’re three-quarters of the way there. We have come a long way. We’re tired, but we’re not hungry though. “Almost there, baby,” Alison cackles. 

We’ve decided to lock out (were we ever locked in, though? We submitted a total of one (1) application in seven hours…) and start playing the party game “Who In The Room”? 

9:16 pm. “Time is not passing through me, I am passing through time,” wise words said by Paula. We aspire to be as literate as her one day. And her statement is true, it’s been nine hours but it still somehow feels like time has gone by so fast and so slowly, all at once. 

9:42 pm. Straight from Michelle’s mind: (I’m forgetting how to spell Paula’s name, I had to scroll up) Paula finally went to the bathroom for the first time in 9 hours… I hope she is ok. Alison likes the pumpkin and apple pie a lot—she is stress-eating, as she tends to do. 

9:49 pm. Alison feels like she’s eaten two times her weight. Every time she says she won’t eat anymore, she is tempted by the smell of sweets and oily food. She swears she’s hitting the gym tomorrow (thank you, Barnard gym). Will she, though? She also promises to start controlling her sugar intake. That history of diabetes in her family is not looking good either.

10:00 pm. Alison is feeling the 10 hours now. 22 hours seemed like a plan two hours ago, but now… not so much. She doesn’t even have the words to describe it. She’s out of words. That is worth more than a thousand words. In other news, it’s emptier now at JJ’s.

10:28 pm. We all make plans to hit the Barnard gym at 9:30 am tomorrow. It is set. Living the fit life.

10:35 pm. Spirits are low. Paula can’t remember the last time she was horizontal. Her head feels like it’s stuffed with cotton—if she could only have one thing before dying it would be to make it out of this place… and eat a vegetable or a piece of watermelon that doesn’t taste like garlic.

10:42 pm. After standing strong for 10 hours and 30 minutes, Paula has to leave because she already has tickets for Latenite. Goodbye, soldier. Everyone who is keeping us company is very tired too, so it’s just Alison and Michelle left now. Another Bwogger arrived a couple of minutes ago and has now joined, though. And then, there were three.

Alison feels tired and defeated. But it’s alright. Only an hour and 30 minutes left. We’re too close to quit now. 

10:50 pm. Straight from Paula’s mind: I have made it out of JJ’s—I had forgotten the freshness of the air, oxygen finally fills my lungs and I can think clearly for the first time in like six hours. Honestly, my main takeaway from this whole experience is: there’s nothing you can’t endure when you have the right people by your side. It is my friends who have made my college years the best they could have been and I am grateful I could spend almost 12 hours with them doing shenanigans and taking our minds off our stressful senior year.

11:07 pm. Almost there. We are almost there. We are almost there. Just a few more minutes and we can get out of here. Forever. We are all quiet now. There is not enough energy to speak. To live. To exist. I see everyone around me laughing, full of life, full of hope and joy in their eyes. I remember a time, long ago, 11 hours and seven minutes to be precise, when I was them. It feels like it’s been a century since then.

11:39 pm. The crowd is decreasing at JJ’s. It’s quieter now than it was an hour ago. And so, we’re battling between doing a facemask or not. So many tough decisions to make. A little self-care never killed anyone.

11:52 pm. Despite the oily fast food, us losing our minds, and the fact that we just spent 12 hours in a fast-food basement, we prioritize self-care. As a suggestion from Michelle, we decide to put on some face masks and end the night on a good note. There’s no shame at this point.

12:00 am. This is it. 12 hours stuck in the basement/ninth circle of hell that is JJ’s. Only a few people can say they have survived this. We want to thank our 2019 predecessors, everyone who stopped by, and the JJ’s staff. Masks still on, we pack up our things and exit in all our glory. Honoring past Bwoggers, we hit the woah in victory. 

12:32 am. After some distractions, we’ve finally made it out of JJ’s and into our dorms. Tastes like freedom. The air is crisp; our faces, soft because of the face masks; our stomachs, full; our hearts, overflowing with joy. It was a journey that tested our limits, but here we are, alive (though maybe not well). Maybe this was just one of our many attempts to escape our obligations, peak evidence of the senioritis that has invaded us since the year started, but no one can take this experience away from us. And no one can take these friendships either. Oh, how lucky we are to have found people who make even bizarre experiences like this one, ones we will keep close to our hearts forever. 

Sitting in JJ’s, there were times we felt like we were going crazy. But that is alright. Because we are surrounded by our friends, people who make our days a little brighter even when they look a little dark. And they, with their presence, lightened up this journey. Maybe it is these moments that make up our whole college experience—they may seem irrational at the time, but they make everything worth it. This is what we will remember 20 years down the road. That we lived, we survived, 12 hours in JJs. 

Food log (with ranking out of ten stars):

Alison

• Split chocolate chip pancakes with Paula (7/10 a little chewy, but it got better as time went by)
• Fruit salad (10/10 I’m convinced JJ’s has the best fruit salad in all of Columbia)
• Potato salad (10/10 I’m a sucker for potato salad)
• Macaroni salad (10/10 I’m a sucker for macaroni salad, too)
• Artichoke heart (10/10 what on Earth is this, and why does it taste so good?)
• Celery (0/10 who do you think I am? A rabbit?)
• A bite of the bacon, egg, and cheese croissant (2/10 points for trying)
• Onion rings (10/10 scrumptious)
• Wedges with cheese (10/10 best fries out there, only lagging behind native Peruvian fries. Fun fact: we have the most varieties of potatoes in the world, with over 4000 types. You all should visit #patriotic)
• Vegan chili with Fritos (7/10 quite good, but at this point, I’m just devouring everything)
• A sip of the green tea with mango slushie (2/10 maybe it’s because I only drink water now. I’m living a healthy life—see above). 
• Watermelon (7/10 I feel healthy)
• Corn dogs (10/10 they hit. Or maybe I’m just eating at this point. But I like them, still. Sweet and salty. What a treat)
• Apple pie (8/10 solid apple pie. Needed in these times when the bar is low and the cravings are high).
• Pumpkin pie (3/10 JJ’s, do better)
• Oreo vanilla milkshake (10/10 my to-go JJ’s item. There is no JJ’s without this piece of heaven)

Paula

• Split chocolate chip pancakes with Alison (8/10 maybe cause I was really hungry??)
• Cheeseburger (6/10 because it was kind of stale, RIP)
• Another order of chocolate chip pancakes someone save me (10/10 hits different the second time)
• Lemonade (three cups) (10/10 there’s absolutely nothing better than JJ’s lemonade. Literally try to change my mind)
• Watermelon (3/10 tell me why this tastes like garlic)
• Apple pie (8/10 adequate)

Michelle

• Alison’s leftover nasty croissant (8/10 because the eggs were cooked Chinese style)
• Chicken nuggets (7/10 I miss dino nuggets, though)
• Onion rings (5/10 the onion was mushy)

Header via Anjali Mignone

Photos via Bwog Staff