As we dive into college and all it has to offer, I feel like much is forgotten. College is like some secret world we've never been exposed to before. It's a world of adulthood, of parties, of new friends, new experiences, and so much more. It sucks you in and you love it because it's new and exciting. You get to go to classes geared towards what you want to do, you get to join clubs that interest you, and you get to experience the taste of real freedom for the first time.

When given freedom, you want to do the adult thing. You want to hang out with the older kids and go to parties and do things you'll probably regret in the morning. You'll want to skip class to go and get food or hold off that important assignment until the last minute because.. well, why not? You'll want to kiss that boy or hook up with that girl because, well, you're in college. Isn't that expected? It isn't expected, but still, it is done. Freedom is sweet and tastes amazing with every little bite, but it also blindsides us. And when we get wrapped up in this new found freedom, this choice of partying all night or skipping a class because you're just so tired, or finding a job or just hanging out with friends, or even hooking up with someone just because, there's a little voice that gets lost within us. That little voice is our inner child.

When thrown into college, you want to seem grown up. You've been under guardian supervision for 17, 18 or 19 years and you want to finally be able to hold your own. You do the things you do because now you finally can. You do not have to come home at 10 p.m., no one's going to tell you to clean your bathroom because it's an utter mess, and no one can tell you that you have to go to your night class and not that party. We find these freedoms and we put them in a choke hold, and with that we lose the inner child in us who never wants to grow up. We lose that happiness of innocence, we lose the feeling of infinity.

With that loss of our inner child voice, sometimes our decisions make us sad. They make us regret everything we have done and everything we will do. It makes us feel lost, like we don't know where we're going in life. We lose our roots and everything we've known because we're in a world we've never been in before. It's not something you just don't experience, it happens at one point or another. You get so wrapped up in the adult you're trying to be you forget the child you once were, and it makes you feel incomplete. If you clicked on this article, I'm hoping this might be the boat you're in and you're looking for some words of encouragement. Well, here they are.

If you lost your inner child somewhere along this crazy journey of college, go and find it. Call your mom or your dad and ask them for help, stay in for a night instead of partying and listen to a throwback playlist that will have you thriving from nostalgia. Go to a park and swing on the swings or run through the jungle gym, go to bed at your old bedtime maybe just once. Or, simply, don't let anything get in the way of your inner childhood happiness. Think about when you were a kid and what made you happy. Take that innocence and naive nature you once had and apply it to the growth you've attained. Going back to the past never hinders your future, it only makes you stronger and more ready for what's to come.

Overall, never get so wrapped up in the world of adulthood that you forget what being a happy little kid was like, because that it where some of the purest bliss will be. It may be hard to find it, but once you do, you will be transformed by the happy feelings you get. That isn't to say you won't still have bad days and you'll never be sad ever again. What it does mean is that you can remember your inner child and not be afraid to not always act so grown up, because let's face it... We aren't grown up yet. We are in an awkward in between of trying to grow up and not knowing what we're doing, and sometimes to get out of that in between we have to go back to what we have known and what we'll always have; our childhood. With that, don't be afraid to let your inner child voice take over sometimes. It can surprise you what good it will do.

Sincerely,

A Girl Who Has Found And Is Still Trying To Completely Find Her Inner Child