By Griffin Burrough

“Okay, so maybe if we destroy all the tanks first, we can not get shot down immediately.” This conversation marked the fifth time my friend Teddy and I tried to steal a jet from the army base in Grand Theft Auto V. To the uninformed, this might seem utterly stupid and pointless; but to us it was the culmination of our blood, sweat, and tears. By that I mean: nobody’s blood, Teddy’s sweat, and my very manly tears. It might seem stupid to keep dying by the whims of a cruel video game, but it is ties to our childhood that keep us all sane. In college we are always told to step outside of our comfort zone but sometimes it’s great to just wrap yourself in your comfort zone and forget about everything else.

When I have people over, I obsess over every little detail: Is there enough food? Will enough people come? How do I keep everyone entertained? The first time I had people over I bought everything you would expect at a get-together. What I didn’t expect was that everyone would be enamored with one thing: my giant box of Fruit by the Foot. I thought it was weird — I like them because they’re what my mom packed for me as a kid, but I didn’t realize everyone else also grew up with them.  I learned that night that what everyone secretly wants are the snacks they had back in elementary school. Who doesn’t want to be a kid again?

Another instance of my unusual need for the past was on my drive back from Missouri. I have an iPhone 5, which means I have about three hours of battery life, and I had enough life left in my phone to play one more song. For reasons I can’t comprehend I decided to play a song that I loved from 7th grade: “Guilty Pleasure” by Cobra Starship. Yes, that’s the last time you will ever hear Cobra Starship’s name uttered. Almost on cue, after the song ended, my phone committed seppuku and I was left listening to the sound of wind for five more hours. What makes this song different from all other songs? I chose it because it reminds me of a less complicated time, a time when I just had to debate whether to watch Nickelodeon or Cartoon Network.

College can be exhausting when you constantly have to step outside of your comfort zone. When people constantly badger me to step outside of what I like, I tell them that it’s a comfort zone for a reason. When you do poorly on an exam, or your friends ditch you, or that girl doesn’t text you back, the solution isn’t to continue making yourself uncomfortable. The solution is to find what you know and hug it close to you, whether it’s Fruit by the Foot or Cobra Starship. Your comfort zone is there for a reason: to keep you sane and to be your support system.

Griffin Burrough ’18 is undeclared from Summit, N.J. Contact him at burroughe@kenyon.edu.