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September 04, 2006
Sentiments of School
There is something in the air. Something that for the last week has caused me pain and frustration. And I'm not talking about allergies.
I was gone for seven weeks in Africa, and while I was away so many things changed. Trees grew more leaves, the sun changed on the horizon, it got much warmer, and there is a new smell in the air. At first I thought it was just that it smelled like summer, but I had left in July, so it had already been summer. Then I thought maybe it was fall, but it isn't quite late enought to be "fall" yet. Then I realized that it smells like the first day of school.
And the reason this is causing me such pain and frustration? It's not the first day of school for me anymore. It's like a pavlovion response: the feel, the look, and the smell of this season just screams to me, "It's time for another year! Time to go get new art supplies and books and clothes! Time to see friends who have been gone all summer! Time to decorate your bare dorm walls and walk with your roommate to the caf for lunch!" But there is no new dorm room, no reason to buy new clothes, no more flex points and meal plans for the caf. I wake up to daydreams about new gum erasers, huge pads of newsprint, soft new paintbrushes, clean white studio walls, field trips to Ace and the Getty and UCLA, a backpack heavy with fresh notebooks and binders that still smell of new plastic, and much more.
Most people certainly don't feel this way about their school upon graduating, but I do. And I want more than anything to prolong the happiness and learning and experience of going to Biola. Why am I so sentimental?!
Posted by libbystokes at September 4, 2006 08:54 AM