The traditional college experience and dream have been shattered. But I’m starting to ask myself if I would’ve ever been ready. If colleges were business as usual throughout the school year, would I be able to cope with the idea of leaving home?

I sat with my family the other day in my living room as we jokingly screamed about ordering Thai food. I felt a wave of nostalgia as I imagined what the scene would be like without me in it—pretty much exactly the same, I thought. What would I be doing when my family was ordering food in the living room next year? This created waves of anxiety about the future, and I regressed back to an unforeseen spot in my childhood. 

I found myself unable to sleep that night—plagued by the horror of leaving my family behind. Of course, I turned on my phone. The Disney+ app caught my eye, and suddenly I found myself looking for movies to watch. Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars 2, Frozen: all movies I hadn’t seen in years and yet was so inclined to start watching. I pressed play on Finding Nemo and found a proverbial happy place. I was asleep within fifteen minutes.

The ability of movies to bring joy and calm to my life is something I never would have imagined. The rewatching experience has been so special to me and reigns as one of the guiltiest pleasures I have. All aspects of listening to kids’ movies when I fall asleep, so I don’t get sad seem embarrassing. 

I’ve also discovered the movies to be significantly more moving than when I was younger. Kids don’t understand the full scope of situations, and so your allegiance with Marlin from Finding Nemo when you’re older grows intensely. I haven’t felt more moved during movies than I have watching kids’ movies with my now-developed emotional intelligence. I don’t know how parents can sit next to their children in the theatre and not end up being questioned by toddlers about why they’re bawling at the moment.

Then comes the important sub-genre of success stories. You can’t cover the glory of the children’s movie without mentioning the underdog/comeback stories of Turbo the snail and Lightning McQueen. These feel-good movies are unmatched in terms of comedy, action and a sigh of relief when the hero finally crosses the finish line. Cars 3 completes the fast-paced racing trilogy with a progressive and revolutionary message of hope and inclusion. The messages in kids’ movies aren’t negative unless you’re rooting for Cruella de Vil and therefore against everyone else.

Now, it’s not that I’m ignoring the facts of life or putting anything off by watching these movies; I’m just reminding myself of what a nice childhood is still to be had. We’re all unknowably young at heart, and for us to embrace that is for us to recognize that not everything needs to move forward. I’ve experienced heartbreak in relation to family trauma, and I understand how sometimes it can feel like we’re being forced to mature in the wake of “the real world.” No tragedy or hardship can take our joyful years away from us; they’ll always be here. We don’t need to have graced our lives into absolute professionalism by the end of our senior years, but we also don’t need to be denying the fact that life moves on, and we’re bound to move with it.

We’re facing uncertainty this year, but we don’t have to face it alone. Please, do yourself a favor and watch something from your childhood that brings you joy. (If it’s an Adam Sandler movie, then fine, but don’t tell anybody that I was your inspiration). After all, if you’re not going through life with your favorite Disney princesses at your side, then how are you ever going to succeed?