1. Mac N Cheese Intake
Ask any 5- or 6-year-old their favorite food and a majority will say Mac N Cheese. Ask a college student the same question and they probably won’t have the same answer. But it's all we can afford and the only thing we know how to make on our own. Also it’s the perfect midnight snack when you are pulling an all-nighter, working on a project or studying for a test.
2. Essential Nap Times
Going to school every day for the first time is a lot to handle for a 6-year-old. Having to teach a couple dozen 6-year-olds for an entire day is a lot to handle. So in Kindergarten, naptime is essential to keep the teachers and the kids from going insane. In college, naps are essential for survival. Sometimes it’s the only sleep we get because we stay up until 5 a.m. studying for a test or out at a house party. Same thing.
3. Buddy System
In Kindergarten, your teachers won’t let you go to the nurse, bathroom or the office without a “buddy” even if you insist that you won’t get lost. Now we can’t possibly go anywhere without a buddy on a Saturday night out. Whether it’s the 3-block walk to get to the bars, the walk across the street to the house party or even just to go to the bathroom.
4. Coloring Books
We are a little better at coloring inside of the lines now than we were in Kindergarten, but you can’t deny that adult coloring books are one of the coolest trends ever.
5. Mix-Matched Outfits
Getting to pick out your own outfits in Kindergarten is your first feeling of freedom. You beg your mom, and when she finally lets you, it’s the most exciting thing in the world. So you pick out your favorite hot pink polka-dot shirt, lime green striped pants, throw on your Elsa backpack, grab your juice box and roll out. In college, you wake up five minutes before you need to leave for class, so you pick up that orange T-shirt that’s been on the ground for a few days and the blue shorts with the green stripes on the side, grab a granola bar and then do your best walking sprint to make it to class on time. Not realizing what you are actually wearing until a few hours later.
6. Assigned Seats
Even though we don’t have colorful name tags that the teacher tapes to our desks anymore, I have been sitting in that same seat for three weeks, and it is mine. What makes you think you can just come in here and take it?
7. Goofy Pictures
Taking a “silly one” is the best when you’re 6-years-old. You get the chance to stick your tongue out or give your friend bunny ears. In college, we still make silly faces in our pictures or snap chats because, let's be honest, it’s better to look silly on purpose than to actually try to look good in a picture.
EDITOR'S NOTE–All photos in this article include students who are part of the news team, along with their family members.