Nineteen years

Back to school. Back to school, to prove to Dad that I’m not a fool. I got my lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don’t get in a fight.

Tomorrow marks the first day of my nineteenth year in school: Headstart + K-12+ B.A. + M.ED= a really long time.

I don’t really expect to be done or tired of going to school for a long time. My first memory is of me in school. I don’t know anything else but going to class. Someday I guess I will have to go out and get a real job but for now I’m enjoying learning and growing (and thanks to my assistantship I get to do it for free paid to do it!)

In about 10 hours I will be heading to my first class as a grad student.

True to form I can’t sleep and I have no idea what i will wear to my first day of class.

I remember the days when I had a list of school supplies that I was required to buy. On that list was a range of supplies from scissors, crayons, folders, notebooks, and some random number of tissue boxes.

I loved those days. From the day we purchased my new backpack to the day school started I would spend hours looking at my supplies and waiting impatiently to use them. I always had a love for notebooks, pens, and everything found at office depot.

All these years later and how did I spend my time today? Arranging my desk, making sure my paper clips were in the right spot, that my favorite pens were conveniently located, my schedule visible from all angles, and of course my post-its sorted by size and color. I have traded in my trapper keeper (I had the abstract art ones from the 90s) and Pee Chee folders (Do they still make either of those?) for a MacBook but the excitement to dive into books, meet new people, and start something new has not changed.

I think I might even be inclined to take a picture on the steps heading to my first day of school. =)

Being a graduate student is like becoming all of the Seven Dwarves. In the beginning you’re Dopey and Bashful. In the middle, you are usually sick (Sneezy), tired (Sleepy), and irritable (Grumpy). But at the end, they call you Doc, and then you’re Happy.

– Ronald T. Azuma, from his online guide “So long and thanks for the Ph.D.”