There is a certain undeniable buzz associated with back to school time. The air is crisp, the backpacks are new, the sidewalks are full and the camaraderie overflowing. The electricity downtown is palpable as students make their way back to campus for the first day of classes tomorrow. It will mean football games and traffic headaches and full city buses and marching band practice.
And for the first time in a long time, I can simply be a bystander.
As I watch students line up to buy their books or congregate on the grassy lawns of campus, part of me does so with a sense of nostalgia.
But, trust me, not a big enough part of me.
Mostly I am still getting over the idea that while it has been months since I have done any homework, I am not in trouble for it. This August, I did not have to drop three hundred dollars on school books. I won’t have to rearrange my life for four months to accommodate classes, studying, writing papers and reading textbooks. I will not have to fret about where to park on campus or how expensive my inevitable parking tickets will be.
I can, instead, pick berries with the kids and, as Jay says, “listen to chirp-its cricket and feel the sun smile on my face.”
Sigh....
But then, maybe neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeext year…because I heard about this really cool PhD program, and...
Argh. Somebody help. I just ain’t right. Could I just maybe smell someone else's backpack?
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