Back to School Night

. . . talk about stepping into the Twilight Zone.

Last night my uncle, who teaches Physics at my former high school, asked us to help decorate his classroom before school starts tomorrow.

So, of course I went. I mean, I might not be majoring in art, and I may not even have any talents in interior design, but I won't pass up an opportunity to decorate. Cards, cupcakes, classrooms, take your pick.

It was the first time I'd been back at my old high school in a long time. And it was weird, to say the least. Strange to walk on those tiled floors, past rows of lockers, and enter my old physics classroom. Honors Physics. Sophomore year. A1. My first day, first class of high school.

I was greeted by classic black science desks, friendly-neighborhood Expo markers, and that familiar, pungent scent of bat guano (our high school is ancient--I *think* the bats are out of the ceiling by now? I *think* they got rid of them my senior year? In any case, they left their mark).

The memories rushed back, too. Early morning light streaming over the mountains and onto my physics assignment. F = ma. Force. Pressure. Those growing pains of adolescence. Gaining confidence. Losing it. Gaining it again. Making friends. Seating charts changing. Awkwardly flirting with the cute junior boy sitting next to me. Falling flat on my face. Getting up again. Learning. Growing. Changing. Some things never do. Newton's laws. 9.8 m/s squared.

And some things never do change. Cycles. Rotations. Transitions. Seniors, juniors, sophomores, freshmen. We learn and grow and cry and laugh--and that is life.

And tomorrow, there will be a new beginning for those students. Who knows what will be? A fresh canvas of beautiful possibilities. Heartbreaking disappointments. Mistakes and experience. Desirable to make one wise.

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?" ~ Anne of Green Gables 

Welcome back.