by Dean Allsopp

As new research finds college educated Millennials to be the most regretful generation ever, I decided to look at what UMass seniors would have done differently. What would you have changed?

The millennial generation, often described as lazy, entitled, and technology obsessed, can now add “regretful” to that list.

College educated Millennials are the “most regretful” generation in history when looking back at their four years of undergrad, according to a new Pew Research Center report. In a report titled “The Rising Cost of Not Going to College” researchers distributed surveys asking college graduates to reconsider their college experiences based on four criteria: job preparation while in school, studying harder, beginning the job search earlier, and choosing a different major.

Millennials were the most likely to have multiple regrets about their college experience – about three-in-ten or 31 percent of all Millennials said they would have done three or all four things differently to better prepare themselves for employment, compared to 17 percent of Baby Boomers and 22 percent of Generation Xers. Millennials were more likely than any other generation to regret not getting more work experience while in college, and not looking for post-graduate work sooner. Millennials were also more likely than Baby Boomers to say their job prospects would have been better had they chosen a different field of undergraduate study.

My list of “shoulda, coulda, woulda” is longer than most class syllabi, so I wondered, do other UMass seniors feel the same way?

What would UMass seniors do differently if they were given a do-over? As I went around asking the oldest students at Massachusetts’s flagship campus what their biggest regrets are, I got a wide variety of answers, from the hilarious to the mundane, from the missed classes to the missed opportunities, and a whole lot in between.

Seniors such as Bill Bradley, an accounting and Spanish double major, didn’t listen to his professor’s advice. Billy’s biggest regret was not working harder during his four years at UMass to secure an internship before graduation, which can make securing a job for post-grad life more difficult. Since about one-in-eight Millennials say they’ve boomeranged back to a parent’s house, here’s to hoping none of us will be calling mom and dad our newest roommates after graduation.

Other seniors regret not making the most of their last opportunity to cause a little mischief. Justin Surgent, a senior journalism and English major, said if he could do it all again, he wishes he’d “done the dirty” in DuBois. David Barnstone, a BDIC major, also wishes he could have caused a bit of ruckus, having yet to take a plunge into the UMass campus pond. If you’re one of these seniors, I encouragingly remind you, the year isn’t over yet!

Still, the majority of seniors weren’t wishing they’d pranked the campus or had more internships under their belts, they instead regret not taking advantage of everything that UMass had to offer. I got countless responses like that of Christine Heffernan, who wishes she had been more involved, or Amber Blunt, who is kicking herself for not attending more on-campus lectures. Tyler Read can’t believe he didn’t foster better relationships with his professors. Stephen Small and Justine Kane wish they had attended more campus events. The pattern here is clear; we all wish we had spent a little more time reppin’ our maroon and white and contributing to our UMass community.

So, to the class of 2018 from the class of 2014, here are a few wise words for the future. Will you listen? Sophomores and juniors, the message goes to you too. It’s never too late to invest yourself at UMass. Your tuition is expensive, so get your money’s worth. As important as showing up to those 9:05 lectures may be, a huge part of college is what you learn outside of the classroom as well. It’s about being a part of a community, our UMass community. Now all that is a little cliché, so I’ll make my advice a bit more original: appreciate Late Night. A gift to us by dining hall gods, as I prepare for commencement, I can’t help but think, “now that is a resource I regret not using more often.”

So seniors, what are your biggest regrets? Let us know in the comments below!

Dean Alssopp can be reached at [email protected].