Let’s get one thing straight: Growing up, while inevitable, sucks.

Now, I don’t mean to come off as some Peter Pan-type character, but I know that I am not the only college student who has wanted to go back in time. However, the sooner you come to accept this fact, the more quickly you’ll be able to adjust to adulthood. For me, one of the best ways to cope with this transition is by giving back to the community and helping out young kids.

During my college career, I have been given a variety of opportunities to give back to kids and my community. My first job was working at a child center west of campus (Noah’s Ark) and I also volunteered as a big in Big Brothers Big Sisters for 2 1/2 years. Last year, I spoke to a journalism class at my old high school about what college journalism is like (it’s a blast, just take it from me).

During each of these events, I realized that if I could reach out on a somewhat consistent basis, many others could as well. As college students, we are given incredible opportunities to become role models in our community. In the grand scheme of things, we are only at the university for a small amount of time. However, during our time here, we need to make the most of any opportunities we are given, and volunteering with kids is a great way to do so.

Volunteering will reflect well in a multitude of ways following your collegiate career. It will beef up your resume through community service experience, give you some possible references for the future and most importantly, it might enable you to make a difference in someone else’s life. It also has remarkably low barriers to entry. BBBS is always looking for bigs to help out, and being a big was honestly one of the most fulfilling things I have done in my life.

Another reason I find helping out with kids being so fulfilling is because of the dominance in any sport you will play. Playing with children half your size makes you feel like a god. On the basketball court I have transformed from a dorky white guy to a lethal combination of Moses Malone and Dominique Wilkins when posting up against seven-year olds. In football games, the elementary school-aged offensive line has no answer for my lethal bull-rushing skills, and I would make Randall Cunningham blush with my array of quarterback bootlegs and 50-yard touchdown strikes.

However, maturity definitely has its perks. Having your own car and being able to eat whatever you want are both pretty nice examples, but the days when your final project of the school year was to glue macaroni to a paper plate just can’t be beat.

Watching and interacting with little kids will also humble you, which is something that many college students need. It doesn’t matter if you are university president Marc Johnson or actor Mark Wahlberg, if given the opportunity, those little kids will still chuck a dodgeball as hard as they can at your face. Unless you are a renowned pop culture icon, then it is still fair game for a group of little kids to rain on your parade.

Finally, it is essential to remember that kids are pretty awesome at times. Their wisdom is unmatched in almost every popular news topic today. Here are just a handful of examples to show you what I mean:

On politics: “I don’t really like politics, but I do like (President) Obama’s smile.”

On popular music: “When I grow up, I want to be like Ke$ha.”

On a healthy diet: “I want to eat at Burger King, every day, for the rest of my life.”

On sports: “(Former Wolf Pack quarterback) Colin Kaepernick is the best in the NFL, he is just so hot.”

Life is so much simpler through the eyes of a third-grader.

Chris Boline studies management and economics. He can be reached at cboline@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @CDBoline.