Summer is over and school resumed this week and I was thinking about my niece who starts Middle School this year. As I did I also found myself thinking thinking about my family and all the different ways school has looked over the years.
I went to school decades before my children did. Suzanne and Charlie had a different experience from mine, and even my nieces and nephews. They were homeschooled for much of their education, although they both attended public school for a time.
You would think that with all those years between us, and with school itself changing so much, our experiences wouldn’t have much in common. But they did more times than I can count.
This was good to because sometimes I was able to share what I went through and they would talk to me about there fears. When I watched my children experience those first days of school, I recognized the same feelings I had carried with me when I was their age.
That surprised me. The schools were different. The teachers were different. The rules were different. The opportunities were different. But that feeling of walking through the school doors and wondering what the day was going to bring? That hadn’t changed at all.
When I think back to the first day of school, I don’t remember just the new clothes or the school supplies. I remember being excited. I couldn’t wait to see my friends. But underneath that excitement was a little bit of stress.
What if I couldn’t find someone I knew? What if I got there and my friends didn’t acknowledge me? What if they had spent the summer growing closer to someone else?
Because that’s something we don’t always think about when we’re adults. Summer can be a long time when you’re a kid. People grow. People change. People make new friends and move on without us.
Sometimes someone you thought would always be part of your life comes back to school and suddenly doesn’t seem interested in being your friend anymore. You don’t know that before you walk through those doors. You find out that morning. And that can make the first day of school feel like much more than simply going back to class.
You were also trying to figure out where you belonged. You had to find your classrooms. You had to learn your schedule. You had to figure out which teachers you had. You had to learn the routines.
And then there was lunch. Could you leave campus for lunch? Did you have to stay? Where could you go? Who were you going to eat with? How long did you have? You had to make sure you got back on time.
There were so many little decisions that seemed incredibly important at the time. And then there were the classes. You might look at your schedule and wonder whether you had made the right choice.
Did I really want this class? Should I have taken something else? What is this teacher going to be like? Would you have friends in the class? Would you get along with everyone or would there be problems?
You could walk into a classroom thinking you had made a great choice and discover that it wasn’t what you expected at all. Or you could walk into another class and realize you had found something you really enjoyed.
The first day was a lot of figuring things out. And the funny thing is, I watched Charlie and Suzzane go through some of those same emotions. Even though their school experience was different from mine, they still had those questions.
They still had to figure out where they fit. They still had to wonder about friendships. They still had those moments of excitement and nervousness. And that made me realize something.
Maybe the first day of school hasn’t really changed as much as we think it has. The details changed. The schools changed. Technology changed. The classes changed. The opportunities changed.
But children still walk through those doors wondering who will be there for them. They still wonder if their friends will be happy to see them. They still wonder if they will fit in which is what my nieces and nephews are facing today.
They still have to learn new schedules, meet new teachers, find their classrooms, and figure out where they belong. And sometimes they still come home with a completely different opinion of their day than they had when they walked out the door that morning.
Looking back, I think that is part of what made the first day of school mean something different. It wasn’t simply the first day of another school year. It was a new beginning.
You were stepping into a new year without knowing exactly what that year was going to bring. You didn’t know which friendships would last. You didn’t know which ones wouldn’t. You didn’t know which teacher might become one of your favorites.
You didn’t know which class might change the way you looked at something. You didn’t know what opportunities would come your way. And you certainly didn’t know how much you would change before the school year ended.
I used to think those feelings belonged to my generation. Then I watched Suzanne and Charlie experience them and now I watch my niece and nephew going through the same thing And I realized they weren’t just my memories. They were part of growing up.
Decades could pass between our first days of school, and our schooling could look completely different, but there were still those moments when we all had to walk through the door and wonder:
Where do I belong? Who will be there? Will today be a good day? And maybe that’s why I still remember the first day of school. Because sometimes the first day wasn’t really about school at all.
It was about finding your place in the world, one classroom, one friendship, one decision, and one day at a time. And when I look back now, I am grateful that I got to see those same feelings reflected in my children. It reminds me that while so much has changed, some parts of growing up never do.
Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed
#Back-to-School #FirstDayofSchoolJitters #MiddleSchool #Family #Feelings #FirstDay #DFWBlogger #FortWorthBlogger #NorthRichlandHillsBlogger #SocialMediainfluencer
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates