Childhood nostalgia revisited from ‘under the sea’ to in the dirt

Oksana Pawlush

Staff Writer

“Are you ready kids?” has become an anthem for a large population of students who find themselves wishing to live in a pineapple under the sea.

With many current Hudson Valley students born in the late 90s and early 2000s, there are parts of their childhoods that stick with them, even as college students. Students like digital media major Mike Kerdesky have fond memories of watching shows like “Spongebob SquarePants,” which makes the opening sequence of the show a fond reminder of what he loved about his childhood.

“The first four seasons of Spongebob SquarePants were the best,” said Kerdesky.

Like Kerdesky, students at Hudson Valley associate their childhood with cartoons from their youth. Saturday mornings became the time for students to enjoy watching cartoons like Danny Phantom, “Ed, Edd n Eddy” and “Dexter’s Laboratory.”

Besides cartoons, students also enjoyed the sitcoms from that time. “Friends,” the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” and “Seinfeld” were a core part of the kids’ diets.

“Seinfeld was my life!” said business administration major Lauren Aston.

Even educational shows like “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” which students remember watching on an old television that was wheeled into their elementary school classrooms, served as the best part of their childhood science classes.

Besides television, kids from this generation also remember how to have fun without relying solely on their digital media. Popular toys from the late 1990s and early 2000s stick with students as the best way to spend their time as a child.

“The Crystal Pokemon game was was my childhood,” said Kerdesky.

Ez-Bake ovens let kids learn to cook brownies and cakes, and Beanie Babies helped students find friends in stuffed animals. Hot Wheels and Hess trucks drove around on carpets that were changed to little maps of towns.

“All I would do is either play with Hot Wheels, build stuff with Legos or play in the dirt,” said liberal arts major Jake Snyder.

“I still know people who have the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers belts,” said independent studies major Gerardo Salazar.

Justin Hunts remember using Gak and Pogs. Gak was a moldable, rubbery goo that was featured in the Nickelodeon show Double Dare that Hunts used to wreak havoc on his friends and family.
“I use to throw [Gak] at my brother’s face and hit my mom in the back,” said Hunts.