Talking about college comes with a lot of baggage. The excitement, expectations, pressures and fears build up to a point where if one more person asks you about it, you might just explode. Hopefully, discussing this transition within the framework of a corny, late-nineties children’s movie can help take off some of the edge.

For those unfamiliar with the escapades of Winnie the Pooh, these stories follow Christopher Robin on his charming adventures with the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood. A.A. Milne’s fabled tales have raised generations, inspired by his son’s memories of his favorite stuffed animals. Disney’s 1997 straight-to-VHS classic, “Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin,” follows Milne’s beloved characters as they journey out of the Hundred Acre Wood.

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The film begins as Christopher Robin bares his soul to the sleepy yellow bear, and they sit among the branches of a familiar sycamore tree.

“If ever there’s a tomorrow where we’re not together you must remember: You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think,” Christopher Robin says. “But the most important thing is, even if we are apart, I’ll always be with you.”  

Pooh awakes to find that Christopher Robin has gone missing and enlists the help of their closest friends Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit and Eeyore. The group turns to Owl for guidance, who decodes the illegible, honey-covered note left at Pooh’s door. Christopher Robin is in danger, “he has gone to S-C-H-O-O-L … SKULL!” As the rest boil over with worry, Owl can’t contain his excitement.

“Oh, how I envy you!” he says. “Not everyone has the chance to face the unspeakable terrors of The Great Unknown!” 

By the end of a three-minute-long tune, Owl’s told them what to pack, where to go, what to be afraid of and kicked them out the door with nothing but a map to fend for themselves.

Starting school is one of the scariest things you could do. Whether it’s the first day of kindergarten or your first night in a dorm, it’s a venture into the unknown. Like Pooh, students are given the tools, told the path and issued all the warnings. As much as good intentions try to soften the blow, they don’t make the experience much easier to endure. Hearing things like, “You’ll have the time of your life!” or “Study hard and you’ll be fine!” doesn’t take away from how intimidating new beginnings can be.

Nonetheless, much like our heroes, you set out on a journey, not looking for someone you’ve lost, but someone you want to become. You may not encounter Heffalumps, Woozles or Jagulars, but maybe you’re scared of harder classes, making new friends or finding your place. Like these characters, you may even be followed by your own inhibitions. 

Rabbit doesn’t feel smart enough to lead the group without a map, Piglet can’t seem to conquer his fear of heights and Tigger can’t find the strength to jump as high as he needs to. 

After falling down a gorge, getting raked through mud and being chased by the echoed roars of the Skullasaurus, the group is helpless. Disheartened, it seems they’ve reached the end of the road.

You probably have your own Skullasaurus: this huge, tremble-at-the-thought-of-it brute trailing behind you. It may be the weight of your future or the pressure to succeed. You could even reach a point, much like this bunch has, where you’ve lost hope. But this isn’t the end of the movie. 

With the Skullasaurus still haunting close behind, Pooh’s gang ventures into the Skull, forced to go their separate ways. Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger and Rabbit find themselves on a cliff at the center of the mountain, one bear short. 

A gaping chasm divides them from the end of their journey, and though Rabbit had no maps to guide him, he devises a plan of action “for Pooh,” he says. Though Tigger isn’t sure he can accomplish a spring as large as Rabbit suggests, and Piglet can’t imagine opening his eyes from that height, they have to try.

Meanwhile, for the first time, Pooh is truly alone. He’s fallen into a dark cavern, and in his solitude, he recounts their adventure. He starts to remember Christopher Robin’s advice: “Even if we’re apart, I’ll always be with you.” 

The version of yourself that you hope to find by the end of college already exists inside of you. But you can’t get where you want to go without the bumps along the road. It’s important to remember, as Pooh did, that you’re never alone when you’re loved. You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. 

At last, the friends are reunited. After finding Christopher Robin, they realize the Skullasaurus they feared was only Pooh’s hungry-for-honey tummy. Returning to their homes in the Hundred Acre Wood, Pooh and Christopher Robin are left climbing the branches of that same sycamore tree. 

Though talking animals and made-up monsters are bound to fiction, these experiences are real within every child’s imagination. A child’s world is defined by where they choose to place meaning; these stuffed animals are alive because they mean that much to Christopher Robin. 

It’s easy to remember what this feels like because it hasn’t changed with age. You place meaning in new pursuits, and your once unreasonable fears have evolved into slightly more reasonable, but equally as conquerable anxieties. 

That’s why characters like Pooh and his friends are so important. They teach us that fear and doubt are part of the journey, not something to be avoided but addressed. They’re a testament to the fact that all the facets of your identity are stronger together than they are alone. You can’t get by on just your wits — you need your strength, your heart and even your nerves to get by. 

Through their voyage, as difficult as it is, Pooh and friends accomplish their goals and discover better versions of themselves. As Eeyore says, “[You] didn’t have to come clear out here to find it, [you] had it inside all along.”