Back to (s)Cool
5 habits I’m revisiting in honor of the new school year
If I close my eyes, I can still feel it: the fluorescent overhead lights, the jam-packed shelves, the shopping carts scurrying and tiny hands holding lists of pre-ordained supplies to be purchased ahead of the first day of school. Precisely how many crayons is sufficient for youthful artistry? Lisa Frank folders and a 3 ring binder or a trapper keeper and transparent pocket dividers? Ballpoint or gel pens? Wood or mechanical pencils and even further: click top or twisty? Wide or college ruled spiral notebook? Pre-made textbook covers or making your own out of brown grocery bags? Each choice was an opportunity to express yourself and to set the intention for the year ahead. I relished school supply shopping… and back to school clothes shopping… really any moment to gather all the items that helped me feel like I could conquer the next grade as my best and coolest self.
From sixth grade through middle school it was less about pens and folders and more about the clothes. Those platform wedge Candies sneakers just like Corie the cheerleader had were a key area of focus. Also the orange zip-off baggy pants to impress a cute boy named Dallas and the bicycle chain from the craft store that I thought was THE necklace to pair them with. In high school it was still about the clothes (even when a uniform was involved) but more about defining my identity in the short term and being completely unaware of how much that would change in the long. It’s been more than 15 years since the last time I was a student in a classroom, and I don’t have any children, but this time of year - full of kids in their back to school finest or for the first time far away - I have a hankering to reflect on how i’m both presenting and preparing myself for the uptake in go mode that is Fall. As such, here are 5 habits I’m revisiting in honor of the new school year: