On being an 'adult in training'

One of the joys of being a student is the strange limbo it puts you in; somewhere in-between being an adult, and the deep recesses of your childhood. Sure, you’re out in the big wide world, possibly far away from home, most likely fending for yourself like some sort of regular, fully-grown human being…but at the same time you’re also not quite past the point of total responsibility. An ‘adult in training’ almost.

This may not be true of everyone, but it’s certainly something I’ve noticed recently, specifically in third year, now that I’m on the very cusp of giving up education altogether. The thought of being a full-blown adult, without any “I’m a student”-style excuses, is at times, sort of a scary one. It’s also deeply exciting too, but the desire to cling on to childhood wherever possible is certainly a trend that’s quite noticeable in a large number of students.

After all, there’s nothing to be ashamed of. If you’re about to see your childhood off for good, you might as well see it off right; ease in to your adult future in the best way possible. Celebrate your former existence as a child one last time.

The large majority of this year has been spent trying to find a way to do this effectively, and last week a few friends and I stumbled across something which certainly set us on our way to total grown-up acceptance: Playzone.

Playzone is a children’s play area and activity centre located somewhere between Southampton and Portsmouth. It’s also, however, one of few places of its kind in the country to open its doors to students.

Some friends and I making the most of the Playzone slushies!

Yes, on select days of the week for a certain amount of hours in the evening, students can pay a sensationally reasonable fee and tackle the ball-pits and vertical drop-slides of their childhood once again. There are even slushies on sale, for that full sugar-rush experience. Few times before have I managed to find such an accurate recreation of childhood: everything from the painful burn of the rope ladders to the terrifying heights of the plastic slides was intact. And you know what? It actually taught me a pretty valuable lesson.

It feels like a major part of being a student is clinging on to the past and the freedom of childhood, but the second you find it again (here, at Playzone, somehow in its purest form), you realise just how much more fun being an adult is. Sure, you get to run around and be totally carefree as a kid, but you never really get to do anything hugely meaningful.

Embracing childhood is fun but slides aren’t the secret to everything!

Since starting here, I feel like I’ve clocked up a whole bunch of thoughtful and worthwhile experiences which have really built my character. Running around Playzone was certainly a laugh, but if I had been doing exactly that for the past three years, I wouldn’t have had anywhere near as much fun overall.

The most positive moments of my life as a student have come from the times where I feel like I’ve really grown as a person; when I’ve felt myself actually growing up.

So although most students might just feel like some in-betweener, only half-way to adulthood, that’s ultimately the best part. It’s the one time in your life you have the freedom of a child but the intent of an adult, making for quite possibly the most exciting three years imaginable.

Ben