University is undoubtedly stressful. Between midterms, essays and final exams, it may seem like the only free time left is reserved for losing your mind.

The business and formality of university makes me long for the simpler days of elementary school, where proficiency in finger painting made you a cool kid and you could run free on the playground during recess.

It’s easy to think that we have left our care-free childhoods behind to enter the world of serious grown-ups who wear suits — but we don’t have to do this and we definitely do not have to be serious all the time. The time between childhood and full-fledged adulthood is the perfect time to indulge in some less than serious activities — so take a page out of a kid’s colouring book and have some fun.

One of my favourite things about being a kid was that I was in no way responsible for feeding myself. If I had been left in control of my diet it would have consisted largely of sugary cereal, sugary candy and sugary drinks. So, basically, my mom packed my lunch every day.

There was nothing more exciting than opening my Power Rangers lunchbox during lunchtime and seeing what she had packed me that day. Most of us don’t have the luxury of packed lunches anymore but it’s easy to bring back the nostalgia. All you have to do is grab an old lunchbox — the nerdier the better — and pack it with childhood confections. Bring back the PB&J with no crusts, the juice boxes and the Dunkaroos.

Another gem of yesteryear is the after-school TV show. Whether you rushed home to watch cartoons like Rugrats, Recess, The Weekenders, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or live action shows like Power Rangers, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Full House, classic TV just can’t be beat. Many of the best shows from the past decade aren’t aired anymore but they’re very easy to find on the Internet, so after a long day spent slaving away in the library, why not come home and watch Tommy and Chuckie get into trouble?

An invaluable part of childhood is imagination and creativity. A box can turn into a mansion, a cave or a ship on the Atlantic being ransacked by pirates. There is admittedly less time for make-believe the older you get, especially if you are unfortunate enough to be in a science faculty, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be forgotten altogether.

There’s always time to bring imagination and creativity into daily life. Doodle in the margins of your notebook, play a prank on your friends or make an absolutely ridiculous YouTube video. Who knows, you could become the next Internet celebrity.

Children can do things that adults normally wouldn’t be able to get away with, or that would at least garner some sideways glances. Kids can roll around in the mud, throw temper tantrums in the supermarket or listen to some very questionable music without getting a second glance.

Some of these activities are best left to real children but that doesn’t mean all of them should be. Jumping in piles of leaves, building snow forts or blanket forts and playing MASH are, in my opinion, completely appropriate pastimes for college kids and very good ways to kill time when trying to avoid writing that paper on something undoubtedly less interesting.

Sometimes it seems like everyone is in a hurry to grow up. It has been this way since we were old enough to play dress-up in our parents’ clothes. As we all get older, adulthood stops being a game and becomes reality. But becoming an adult doesn’t have to mean being serious all the time or outgrowing all the things you loved in your younger years.

There’s always a time and a place to be a spontaneous, crazy kid like you used to be.

—
Photo: Brandon Christopher Warren/flickr