It is the last evening of my summer. Such a weird time... most adults are done with the summer/school thing after college, but not teachers. The whole change is horrifying, and yet, life-affirming.
The weather is kindly cooperating... it has been cool and overcast for the last few days- thank you world for that.
I have no idea how I will get up tomorrow morning at 6am. I slept until 10am this morning. I had every intention in the world of going to bed early last night, but it was my last Saturday night of summer, and Halli really wanted to hang out... 1:30am was probably not a good bed time choice. Oops. Horrifying.
Still, like with the changing of the seasons, the annual ritual of "back to school" gives me a sense of movement in life- a sense of new opportunities and clean slates. Kids return and are alive with the change- excited to see friends and excited for the change, even if they aren't happy about being back in class.
One of the strangest things about my job is the fact that most of the people I work with NEVER age. They are always 14-18 years old. I think this gives me a false sense of being ageless myself. I know I act immature at times- I'm pretty sure I can blame the kids for immersing me in the teen hormonal pool that is high school... but it is a good thing. They help me remember what is really important- and that being silly is good- no matter how many gray hairs are peeking out.
So... I'll drag my old sorry *butt* out of bed tomorrow and jump back in... there is so much hope at school- so many moments of light bulbs turning on... so many opportunities to learn, to teach and to appreciate the horrifying yet life-affirming cycle that is "back to school"...
"It's the most wonderful time of the year..." (recall Staples commercial)
That's a horrifying picture, buddy. I may have it in my nightmares tonight.
ReplyDeleteBut, ONE day we will be sitting next to each other in our rocking chairs on a porch as we throw spit-wads at that big orange bus as it drives away.
Immaturity rocks!
I miss this time of the year... even as a child, teen and young adult I looked forward to the first day of school. But then right now I am sorely missing being a teacher. While we may sometimes wonder 'why' we teach; after a year of non-teen interaction I can tell you - 'teaching' truly brings an adrenaline to ones life that you can not get from anywhere else. I am addicted to working with young people... can not get enough of it and going through non contact withdrawals is very painful.
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