Reconnecting with my inner child in my 20’s

When I was little, I always looked to the future. More specifically, I always tried to imagine what my life would look like when I grew up. I’d imagine myself in heels every day going to my big-girl job of being a princess or a fairy. I believed that the interests I had then would be exactly what I loved when I grew up. The life I imagined was picture-perfect. I could not wait for the future of being an adult.  

In middle school, being older was what everyone wanted. It felt like it was uncool to like playing with Monster High Dolls or playing dress-up games after school. It was time to grow up and get new interests that were more “mature.”  In my experience, this resulted in mostly watching Disney XD instead of Disney Channel. I felt an inner shame of liking things that seemed too childish, and I tried to act older than I was.  

This feeling did not change when I was in high school when beauty gurus were trending. Every girl I knew would walk into class with thick winged eyeliner and matte lip on, trying to achieve the look of the 20-year-old influencers we were watching. All the teachers were talking to us about what will and will not be acceptable in college.  College and life after graduation were a constant thought in the back of my mind. What will I be when I grow up?  What will I do after school? Who will I become?

Now that I am “grown up,” I find myself moving backward. For one, the inner shame of liking things that were for younger people is no longer in the back of my mind. I have also found that people my age have the same nostalgia for those things that I adored. I find myself having the same conversations with people about either a game they played as a kid or a Disney Channel original movie they rewatch over and over again. 

The activities colleges host more often than not have coloring pages or a craft a preschooler can do. More often than not, a large crowd is huddled around the table, truly enjoying the activity. One of my personal favorite things to do is play Dress to Impress on Roblox with my friends. Finding an outfit that will match a theme and hoping everyone votes me five stars is a go-to way to relax after a long day of classes. But why is this a common experience? 

This is a time when things are constantly changing. Students had to quickly adjust to living on their own for the first time away from their families. We have to learn how to balance a busy schedule with free time and partake in as many experiences as possible to make sure college is the best it can be. If you live in a dorm, every year you have to move all of your belongings out and then move into a new room. 

On top of all of these changes, a question that we have been asked since childhood is now a serious question we have to answer fast. What will you be when you grow up? Reconnecting with my inner child has helped me cope with these changes and this question takes me back to my childhood. By doing things that made you happy when you were younger, you reconnect to the time when there was no constant pressure to know what you wanted to do and had to take action every day to work toward that goal.  

I am not ashamed to be reconnecting with my inner child and I encourage you to as well. Watch that cartoon you loved, color a picture, do a craft or play that video game you haven’t touched since fifth grade! Reconnect with your childhood self and understand that it’s okay to be just as clueless about your future as you were when you were playing dress up and telling everyone you were going to be a princess when you grow up!  

• career
• college
• her20's
• inner child
• joy haugland
• Kent State University
• ksu