Photo by Patricia Segovia/FIUSM
Nerlyn Galan/Contributing Writer
Do you remember when you were a kid in elementary school and you had a backpack with a cartoon character on it?
You might have had one with a character from “The Powerpuff Girls,” “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” or “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” – shows considered cool at the time.
Vincent Rives/FIUSM:
Freshman Christina Abreu, biological sciences major, can be seen sporting a backpack with a cartoon character.
Although, things must have changed when you went to middle school since you were older and suddenly previous cartoons weren’t considered cool anymore.
While taking my middle-school aged sister backpack shopping, she refused to get a beautiful “The Little Mermaid’ bag, who she loved, because it was “too childish” and “uncool.”
Yet walking around campus, I see people with bags and cell phone covers displaying the same cartoon characters we were suddenly too old for not so long ago.
Do we ever really outgrow our childhood idols or are we just succumbing to some massive societal norm?
I think we are.
When we were in middle school and high school, we were afraid to express ourselves in this way because we thought we were going to be made fun of and fall down the imaginary social ladder.
However, in college, this staircase is burnt down and forgotten because no one cares enough to make fun of it or point it out.
Everyone here has the freedom and the right to express their individualism; with no societal group standards to meet, there isn’t any fear.
Oddly enough, it’s also about maturity and respect; we are all old enough to understand that people have the right to walk around with whatever they want. While you might not share the same taste, you don’t make fun of it because they don’t make fun of you. Even though some people do have mature tastes, they are respectful and even encouraging to those that express their childish taste on-campus.
Vincent Rives/FIUSM:
Sophomore Christine Higginbotham, management major, can be seen wearing a hoodie with a cartoon character on the front.
These childish cartoon items can be great conversation starters because they catch the attention of the people who used to or still watch the shows.
Why is it that after all these years later, after outgrowing them and conforming to different standards, some of us decide to use them again?
“Internally, you never outgrow cartoons – they’re reminders of a time you can never revisit,” said Danielle Van Der Eijk, a freshman international business major. “But externally, some people tend to dismiss their existence because they would rather dress or represent the person they are now.”
This is very true and although we’ll probably have to leave behind our childhood things in the future while out in the real world, it’s nice to know that you never really outgrow them.
The freedom we currently have in college allows us to be as childish as we want or as mature as can be. There is nothing stopping us from expressing ourselves.
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