For the last few months I have been trying to avoid thinking about school. Going back to school, to be more precise. Denial was my main tactic, driving my mind away from any such thoughts, in hopes that the day may never come. Well it has certainly come...
Today was the first day back for me in the next leg of the seemingly endless journey through the American educational system: my fourth and hopefully final year of undergraduate studies. I went to bed last night, after spending the better part of the day unpacking and settling in my new abode, looking forward to a nice long stretch of uninterrupted sleep (one of my favored activities). The alarm was set for 8:00a.m. and my mind was set to experience the normal daily grind in the morning. Or so I thought. It seems as though my internal and external beings had some miscommunication in the night. You see, my internal being decided to wake the external somewhere around 6:30, much to the external being's despair. Having difficulty drifting off again, I decided to check Google Reader for the morning's headlines before prying myself from under the covers (oh the joys of home internet). I was welcomed by a myriad of headlines exclaiming the "controversy" of President Obama's School speech. Oh boy, what a way to start the day, reading about the nitpicky differences of opinion held by the extreme political views in our country (overall I think it is quite a ridiculous controversy). Needless to say, I had had enough and was out of bed and into the shower. Now, though my external body was not pleased at having been up at such an ungodly hour, my internal body very much appreciated the non-rushed shower, savory cup of coffee, and time of quiet before facing the bustling university world.
And so I was off. First day of school. The neighborhood I live in is home to many a young family and on my walk to campus, I passed some kids leaving their houses to wait for the bus. They were running around showing off new backpacks and parents were shouting out the front door, last minute instructions and encouragements. Their excitement energized me in passing, causing me to reflect on the days when the first day of school was one of the most anticipated events of the year. Not so much any more...
I then proceeded to the bus stop to greet an old and loyal friend: the Campus Connector. Every semester I spend a large proportion of my time riding this bus from St Paul to Minneapolis and vice versa. And in boarding the bus this morning I was not aware that it would bring with it one of the joys of being back at school: ignorant freshman. A hypocritical ageist I may be, but I just don't tolerate freshman very well (I'm pretty sure it's because I know how dorky I was back then...). And so it is very much to my joy and pleasure to see a bus load of Campus Connector virgins squirm in fear and anticipation as the driver hurtles down the road and honks at anyone in his way.
All of this to say that I survived the first day back. As busy as they may be, my classes seem doable (it's a good sign to get cookies in the first class!) and it is pretty great to be back in the ultimate people watching arena as well as having the Minnesota Daily back in production (for the crossword of course).
And to all of you students out there, I wish you a happy school year 2009. Let the games begin.
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