By: Samia Tueller
Ponderosa Graduate 2019
We’re so close to the end of summer! Although, it’s not that surprising when you remember we only get two months of summer break. Whatever happened to “Back to School” being in September? Oh, come on, don’t look at me like that. I’m not the one who makes the schedule.
Starting the second week of August, kids across Douglas County will be headed back to their desks. From enthusiastic teachers and relieved parents to procrastinating kids, back to school brings on a lot of emotions.
I should probably have told you from the beginning that this article will be a bit biased. Not just because I’m a student with some teaching experience, but because I absolutely love school. I know - it’s pretty weird in today’s society.
Even from a young age, back to school fascinated me. The new clothes, new classes, new supplies and new people made starting school so exciting! Most kids I knew back in kindergarten and the
younger elementary grades were excited for school to begin. As students grew older, the enthusiasm for school that came easily when they were younger began to disappear. It’s hard to be excited for school when you’re stressed about summer assignments, pushing yourself to live up to straight “A” standards, and always feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work you have. I often felt stressed or completely overwhelmed by school the older I got.
The reason I still love school, and particularly learning, is centered on a quote I came across by Mark Twain. He said, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” Once I realized that school and grades were not the most important thing, I began to focus more on furthering my knowledge and broadening my experiences. This relieved so much of the stress and pressure from me, and I was able to center my efforts on purely learning. I still worked hard, doing all my assignments and studying for my tests, but the attitude was different now. When you focus on a single letter grade for an entire semester of instruction and experience, you miss out on so much. I saw that the more you enjoy learning, the more working on grades came naturally.
As summer comes to an end and we head back to school, I hope parents, teachers, and students will all remember what school really is about. When we light the fire of wanting to learn and become educated, that is when school becomes truly wonderful.