As college students, we like to think of ourselves as mature. We like to think we're past the silly, childish things we loved when we children.
Most of the time, we couldn't be more wrong.
I am a fine example of this. I like to believe I'm a sophisticated television viewer, and I thought the immature cartoons I loved in my youth would hardly hold my interest now.
But when I watched an episode of Rocko's Modern Life on the Internet last week, it was clear that this was nothing more than a pipe dream. I was just as amused by the antics of the wacky wallaby and his cow and turtle friends as I was when I was 8 years old.
No matter how many intelligent TV comedies I love, Nicktoons will always have a place in my heart.
My taste in music is a similar matter. I tend to look at the music I listened to when I was younger with disdain. There was a time when I listened to terrible music like Creed, Limp Bizkit and Nickelback – a far cry from the classic alternative and indie rock I listen to now.
Unfortunately, I was given a healthy dose of reality when Limp Bizkit's ubiquitous 1999 single "Nookie" came on my radio. I tried to resist, but I couldn't help singing along with every word.
I still like The Flaming Lips and Radiohead a lot more, but Fred Durst's goofy, backward-baseball-cap antics will always have a place in my heart, whether I want to admit it or not.
The point is, even when you think you've outgrown something or that your passion for it has gone away, chances are there's still a part of you that loves it. Our tastes and interests evolve as we grow older, but the things we cherished when we were younger always stay with us.
Sometimes, it's not a matter of outgrowing something so much as falling out of love with it. That's how it was with basketball for me. When I was a kid, it was my favorite sport. I lived and breathed the NBA, driving my mother insane in the process.
Then, Michael Jordan retired in 1998 and my passion went away. The league just wasn't the same without him. His mediocre comeback three years later with the Wizards failed to be a mitigating factor. My love for basketball was dead.
Or so I thought.
Last year I found out my favorite writer, Bill Simmons, had written an entire book dedicated to the NBA. I wasn't sure if I should buy it or not. It was my writing hero writing about a sport I barely cared about and only followed during the finals. What was I to do?
I needed to test the waters. I decided to start watching the NBA again. After a few games, it was obvious that my love of the game had never truly left. I had become disenchanted with the game, but deep down my passion for it was always there.
If there's something you used to care a great deal about and you feel you've outgrown it or lost your passion for it, it wouldn't hurt to revisit it. There's a good chance you'll find out that you love it just as much you already did.
Even if you find out that you really have outgrown something you loved in the past, that's no reason to avoid it completely. Try not to grow up too fast; always keep the silly TV shows and the over-the-top songs you loved in your heart. It's like a little piece of your youth.
