There’s something daunting about adulthood that makes me revert to my childlike ways. When I was in high school, I couldn’t wait to be an adult. The jitters of entering college consumed my every thought. College meant that you take off your training wheels and are able to live on your own, making decisions that directly affect your future, right?
Once I was in college, I realized that people didn’t act like adults. Instead, they act like children. Men play Pokémon and women embody their inner princesses with Disney movie marathons. Although this seems counterintuitive, it is actually a relieving revelation.
When I was little, I used to go skiing at Powder Ridge in Middlefield, Conn. One day when I was getting lunch after a day of skiing, I noticed a SoBe truck with people giving out free samples of their beverages. My 10-year-old self hopelessly gravitated towards the free samples and consumed endless cups of green tea. With every cup, the taste kept getting better.
This was first time I ever tasted SoBe Green Tea and I loved every drop of it. I fell in love with its sweetness and the tranquil lizards positioned in the yin-yang on the bottle. However, although I stopped drinking SoBe as I got older, I never forgot the pure gratification of that cool and refreshing beverage.
A couple weeks ago at the George Sherman Union, I spotted a SoBe Green Tea bottle out of the corner of my eye. I put aside the fact that the price was marked up from my childhood days and took a moment to prepare myself to drink in the wonder of my childhood.
I took a sip, reminiscing about the pure joy that I used to receive from it. Once the green tea touched the tip of my tongue, I propelled it the other way. Gross.
How did I possibly like such a rancid drink? They must’ve made it wrong. There is no way that this is the same drink I fell in love with 10 years ago.
I was immediately saddened that I ruined my perfect memory of drinking SoBe as a child. At the same time, I was also appalled at my 10-year-old self for liking such a putrid beverage.
I realized that our taste buds change with age and growing up doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning things you used to love. Seeing and indulging in familiar sights from childhood brings a momentary comfort in our stressful lives.
Playing Pokémon or watching Cinderella doesn’t make someone immature. In fact, it’s perfectly acceptable amongst college students these days. You’re never too old for something that you love.
Now that I am in college, when I think about it, I am more in-touch with my inner child now than I was when I was a child. I often have the fear that revisiting my favorite things from my childhood will taint the perfect first memory that I have of it. Luckily, for the most part, they haven’t.
But maybe some parts of my childhood should be left alone, like SoBe Green Tea.
Jennifer Ruth is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at jenruth@bu.edu.
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