LAKELAND (Oct. 7, 2011) – So what do you get when four Canadian college students draw up a “bucket list” of 100 things they want to do before they die, then set about filming their efforts to check them off?

The result is The Buried Life, a reality show that is in its second season on MTV. Ben Nemtin, Dave Lingwood, Duncan Penn and Jonnie Penn started their project in 2006 as a website, and it quickly attracted attention, growing to an online community with people from more than 139 countries participating.

One member of The Buried Life will speak at speak at Florida Southern College’s Convocation, 10:40 a.m. on Oct. 19 at Branscomb Auditorium, sharing some of their experiences as they have attempted to fulfill their quest. The convocation is open only to FSC students, faculty and staff, but the press is welcome.

Originally from Victoria, British Columbia, the foursome pulled a borrowed 1957 Dodge Coachman RV out of a field, bought a secondhand camera for $100 on eBay and hit the road for two weeks to see how many items they could check off their list.

The name The Buried Life refers to a poem written in 1852 by British poet Matthew Arnold, in which he says our daily life becomes so cumbersome that our real life becomes buried – and we each have a longing to live our “buried life.” Jonnie Penn studied the poem in an English class at the time the team was formed, and soon the name stuck.

In mid-2008, MTV helped the team check off No. 53 on their list – Make a TV Show – by capturing the four in a reality show.

As they travel about, the four friends ask people they meet what they would like to do before they die and help them accomplish some of those goals.

In an interview at the University of Delaware, Lingwood said that for him the project arose out of frustration because he had no passion for what he wanted to do with his life.

“It became an outlet for all my energy and frustration. It’s cool to come to universities and talk to people who may be going through the same thing,” he said.

In addition to the morning Convocation, FSC is hosting an evening event for the public at which all four members of The Buried Life team will be present. The 7 p.m. event, which will be held at Branscomb Auditorium, is free of charge. The members of the team will talk about helping people achieve things on their “bucket lists.”