Back-to-School Nostalgia

Happy back-to-school to all the kids, college students, and mommies and daddies out there! I never realized exactly how much I would miss school until I woke up last Friday morning and realized that I am not starting classes as so many are. As we age, it is inevitable to romanticize the past, because while it may not have been completely pleasant at the time, we discover that those little moments are never ours again. So, in honor of the beginning of the school season, I have compiled a list of things I will miss about school. Ready for a nostalgic trip? Let's go!

• The "school smells". Wooden pencil shavings. That chemical-leeching weird plastic material used to make kids' backpacks. Pink rubber erasers. The endless supply of Lysol wipes for our desks (wait... was that just my fourth-grade class?)
• School foods. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on fresh white bread, and Lunchable packs you were so excited about because you did not care about nutritional value at that age... I can almost taste them now.
• Waking up early to a blaring alarm clock, before listening to music in the dark to kick-start your morning.
• Messing with the radio while sitting in 8:00 traffic. For me, that meant tuning in to hits from the Backstreet Boys, Justin Bieber, or One Direction (depending on my age).
• Getting ready for school. Cramming down breakfast, finishing homework in pajamas before shoving a ton of books into a backpack that barely closes, and throwing your entire closet onto the floor before finding the "perfect" outfit. Brushing your teeth as fast as you can while trying to study with flashcards for that big test in class that afternoon. Your mom yelling "You're gonna be late for school!" at the top of her lungs (to which you inevitably responded by shouting back, "IN A MINUTE!!")
• Stationary. Need I say more? My current age does not care that I am not attending school. When I see notebooks, binders, highlighters, colored pens, and the like, I have to admit: while I am not generally a compulsive shopper, something inside of me will chant "buy them, buy them, buy them!!" until I finally give in or force myself out of the store.
• Back-to-school shopping. Again, like the above. There is a certain rush and, therefore, a certain high that results from checking off the never-ending list of supplies.
• The friends. Pushing your way through the mob of students to fight for the seat next to your best friend in class, staring longingly after them when you have differing schedules, hanging out with your squad at lunchtime (and almost definitely trading or sharing at least some of your food) before typical schoolyard recess activities, and playing after school. It was a wonderful time when this was the most important thing in the world.
• Clubs. No, I am not referring to the "on Wednesdays, we wear pink" kind.  Well, maybe. Whatever that looked like to you. To me, it most meant associated student body. That is, aside from my friends hanging out together and looking at other kids up and down before they got intimidated and sat somewhere else. (Let me clarify... we were not the mean kids; we just were the kids that grew up together and were kings of the place. We had our usual, they had theirs. We never made them move, they just always did.)
• Science labs. Dissections, chemicals, choosing your best friend as a lab partner...yeah, I was a science geek.
• Late night cramming. Iced coffee, energy drinks, and hot tea were the three top beverages of choice when my friends and I were pulling all-nighter's for the sake of a grade. Remember that peace and stillness after you finally finished the assignment and sat in the silence? If you did not simply fall asleep first, that is.
• The after-school chunk of time. You play with your friends before running home, dumping your heavy backpack, snacking on Mom's freshly baked chocolate chip cookies or ants on a log, and then settling in to tackle the mountain of homework.
• Passing notes in class, whispering behind hands, and hoping the teacher does not intercept a secret message to read in front of the entire class. Yikes!
• Playground trends. Learning from classmates what was "cool", games such as bubble gum in a dish and red rover, paper airplanes, and creating those little folded fortune-tellers. We tried so hard to fit in with the other kids!

All in all, I would say it was a magical time. While I miss what I once had, I cherish these memories and thank God for the childhood He gave me, and all the little things that produced the adult I am today.

Happy back-to school.