Ruminating about what I was going to write and compile for
this week’s B-Front, it seemed liked only years ago that I graduated from high
school. I was thinking about the palatial digs all these kids are going to high
school as they enter any one of the four majestic buildings in Clemson,
Liberty, Easley or Pickens.
I had the opportunity to tour the new EHS and walking the
halls was more reminiscent of being in a museum than my old high school.
Beach High (that really is my alma mater’s name – Go Tides!)
had what one might describe as an institutional feel: cinderblock building
construction painted a drab sand color; dimly lit hallways; beat-up, dented in
lockers; linoleum floors that had ferreted so many dirty sneakers to and fro no
amount of bleach could make them look pristine.
We were lucky if there was a television in each room, and I
don’t mean the flat screen variety. I can remember feeling like I had won the
lottery if selected for the task of going to our library to check out the
reel-to-reel film projector and wheel it, atop massive cart, back to whichever
classroom I was in at the time.
Thinking about all this, I heard my voice echo in my head “I
only graduated in 1994. That isn’t that long ago. Then I started doing
the math in my head and, I won’t lie, on my fingers: Voila! My twenty year
reunion is just around the corner.
Yep. Not only do I feel old, without the aid of an
incredibly talented stylist, I would boast a fair amount of grey hair to prove
this fact.
An old friend once told me that I was like a bottle of wine
in that I only got better with age. I’ve chosen to ascribe to this theory.
While I might get older, there are still some things that
never change. For me, one of those things is the excitement of Back to School.
A self-proclaimed nerd, I loved (I love) preparing for back
to school. One of the neat things about having children is getting to relive
exciting moments, such as these, with them.
Picking out book-bags, pencil boxes, binders, glue sticks,
crayons, paper, and pencils was a thrill a minute. Getting home from Wal-Mart,
putting all of the new supplies out on the kitchen table, organizing and
packing them up always brings back fond memories for me.
I wish I were going back to school too.
