“It’s just that time of year when we push ourselves ahead…”

The students are back on campus and I’m noticing more and more how much I love this time of year.  They’re all back in their new fall clothes looking their best, and dropping by to tell us, wide-eyed and all-smiles, about their summer adventures.  I had no idea how much I missed their energy (I was SO glad to see them go last May) until they come back to reclaim this place that’s theirs for 4 important years.  I find myself whistling as I walk around the building, wondering as I turn the corner which face I’ll see again.  Their stories are filled with internships all over the country described by them as “life changing” and  “amazing,” and I remember that feeling of being a constant sponge to new experiences, new places, new people.  This is what I love about growing older: if you surround yourself with young people, you can never really forget your past.

And either because of this influx of energy, or that I’m already practicing being on a teacher schedule, when the day after Labor Day hit it’s like a switch went off inside me and I can focus on work again.  I won’t lie, everything about working this summer - the near-empty office, the slowing down of work, the beach days outside -  left me barely able to get any work done.  The fall feels compeletly different - and it’s really great.  Everyone else seems more focussed too - and with students dropping by the sense of why we are here on this campus doing what we do just feels clearer.  It feels good to feel accomplished again - not only with work but with preparing to start fall classes and getting baby-related stuff in order.

I love the cycle of summer relaxing followed by fall focusing - it feels natural for our lives to be somewhat seasonal - or perhaps that’s just me excited to go into teaching.  But as I get older I notice that I appreciate more scheduled ways to mark the passing of time - a need much like Tuesday night bingo might serve when I’m 80.  It feels so very comforting and predictable, and I love it.

That’s me - comfortable and predictable.  Unless I decide to change careers, have a baby, and move to a different place all at the same time.  Shaking things up a bit is always good, too.