I recently celebrated my 21st birthday. It was both the best and worst night ever. My roommates and friends gave me the gift of alcohol. That’s why I enjoy being in college. The one birthday present you always get — and don’t mind getting — is some alcoholic beverage.

It got me thinking, though — what gift have I enjoyed the most that is not alcoholic? Throughout my 21 years of existence, it’s tough to tell. But it does raise an interesting question: what is the greatest birthday gift I have ever received?

After some thinking, I decided my best gift ever was the Nerf Bow and Arrow. It was awesome. It was blue with yellow arrows.

I want to say I was about six when I got one for my birthday. After I got it, I remember running around the house singing that stupid theme song from the commercials. Seriously, it exists. YouTube that.

So why was it my favorite? Being a boy, we almost always enjoy fake guns and weapons and stuff like that.

The Nerf B.A., as I fondly refer to it, was my first and only bow and arrow. I never took up real archery, possibly because I enjoyed shooting the foam Nerf arrows at people and animals alike, and my mom worried I might kill someone or something if I had a real bow and arrow.

The B.A. was my weapon of choice. I put together something to help me carry it around and had extra arrows. I was a modern-day Robin Hood.

In fact, we had the Kevin Costner film, “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” and whenever I would watch it, I would turn into Robin Hood with my Nerf B.A.

It was the greatest thing I had, and I was the coolest because none of my friends had one.

Needless to say, the B.A. only lasted for so long. I received it on April 27 and had to throw it out by my next birthday. It was the saddest day of my life.

What would I do without my bow and arrow? I couldn’t be Robin Hood anymore.

Throughout the years, my mom and the rest of my family tried to make up for its absence with other Nerf guns, but it wasn’t the same. You might ask why I just didn’t get a new one. They discontinued the line and we couldn’t find one anywhere. It was sad.

Nowadays, Nerf is cheap. They did make some cool looking weapons like the Ball Blaster and Chainblazer, but none of those were as powerful as the Nerf B.A.

The B.A. could hit a target from 58 feet away, you could shoot one shot per 1.37 seconds, and its accuracy was off the chain. I could hit my next door neighbor with accuracy of 100 percent.

Oh Nerf B.A., how I miss you. Maybe someday we’ll meet again. But until then, I salute you.

You were the greatest toy I ever had.

Jordan Wickstrom is a junior in journalism and communication from Beresford, S.D