“The Buried Life” cast members David Lingwood and Jonnie Penn visited Northern Kentucky University Nov. 2 to send a message to students: Anything is possible.
Lingwood and Penn, along with Ben Nemtin and Jonnie’s older brother Duncan, are in the midst of a nationwide college tour. They visited nearly every state except Kentucky before landing at NKU.

“‘The Buried Life’ is four buddies that grew up together who have a list of 100 things to do before you die,” Penn said. “We help people do things that they want to do before they die as we try to complete our own crazy things.”

Their name is derived from the 1852 poem “The Buried Life,” by Matthew Arnold.

Before the reality show, Lingwood and Penn attended college in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. They said that starting the bucket when they were in college helped them relate to their fans.

Penn said he feels humility after he helps someone accomplish a goal on their bucket list.

“That’s the thing about not knowing,” Penn said. “I think you can understand a lot about your own life; but then when you take a look into someone else’s life, you realize that a lot of the problems that you might have in your head … aren’t as big as they seem.”

NKU students were given the chance to share what they want to do before they die. Penn told multiple students who want to meet their parents for the first time that their goals spoke volumes about who they were as individuals.

“The only motto we’ve found that stuck is you know nothing, and if you think you know something, you don’t,” Penn said.
Lingwood said that his favorite thing to successfully cross off the list was streaking at a Kansas City Wizards game.

Although season three has been cancelled, the members of the TV show signed a development deal with MTV in late October. They are in the process of shooting a new format for the show.

“It will be a little bit more free and a little bit more fun,” Lingwood said.