The bell rings, and you grab your High School Musical lunch box in a hurry. Running as fast as you can to the playground, you feel like your legs are going to fall off. You made a bet with Suzie to see who could get to the swings the fastest. The prize was so totally awesome, so you needed to get to those swing sets before her. Your life, or the extra pack of gushers that her mom packed for lunch, actually depended on it. It was either win or go back to your sad non-dessert pack for the mid-day meal. (Sorry mom, but you gave this girl nothing to work with).
You end up making it to the swing sets before Suzie. The victory you feel is so satisfactory that you want to scream it out for the whole world to hear. Life couldn't get better than this, right?
Turns out, you were kind of right.
Childhood is such an amazing and special time for everyone. It's when you don't have to worry about the future, but dream about it. I remember trying to decide if I wanted to become a professional soccer player or a professional pop star. That was truly the biggest concern I had as a child. I know not every childhood is like that, but that is how it was for me. I grew up knowing that I was loved, and I had an abundance of people I could go to if I did have a problem. Now, I find myself as a college freshman, missing those times so much. I know I still have people that I can lean on. However, there is a certain innocence that you have when you're a child that you don't have when you're grown up. The innocence of dreaming and protection. When you're a kid, you can be whoever you want to be, and you're always protected from the exterior cruelty by your parental guardians.
I remember - when I was growing up - I wanted to be a teenager so badly. I dreamed of walking the high school hallways with my significant other. I dreamed of busting out into song at random times. Maybe that's because the media I was watching ("Hannah Montana," "High School Musical," and "Camp Rock") made it look so fun to be in high school. For full disclosure, it was not like that at all.
My point is that humans are programmed to always look towards the future. What am I going to do next? What is the next move for me?
Remember to enjoy now. I would give anything to be an innocent child again for a day. To remember how it feels to have so much hope for the future. And I know that when I'm in my mid-20s or even when I'm old and crinkly, I'm going to want to go back to my college days. So enjoy it while you've got it, and know that you can never go back. That's what I plan on doing.
