Back To School

Today is the first day of the new school year for most students in my city. When I was a student, I waited in anxious anticipation as the new school year approached. It seemed that each year, summer holidays got shorter. Suddenly it was time to return to school and with it came all the fear, nervousness and uncertainty. I was always very nervous that first day: would I like my teacher? would he/she like me? would my friends still like me? did my Mom pack a good lunch? what if the whole years turns out to be awful and unbearable? how will I know which bus is mine when I come out of school at the end of the day? There were some happy things about going back to school. Each year I would get a new set of clothes, which usually arrived in a huge package from Sears. I would carefully go through the Fall and Winter Catalogue and pick out my new clothes. I loved new clothes! It almost made it worth going through the pain of the first day of school. I also loved shopping for new school supplies. Mom always made a big deal out of writing our names on everything. She would set aside an afternoon for "marking" and all of us kids would stack our supplies in front of us, and we would write our names on everything (maybe this is where I developed that love I have for "new book" scent. Despite my discomfort at facing that first day of school, I enjoyed putting on my new clothes, grabbing my new books and waiting for the bus. Loving - and fearing - the first day of the new school year . . . it's a good thing!