In Love...With School

That's right. I said what nobody thinks a sane person could ever say. I love school.

That has not always been the case. Heaven's no. True, I was one of those kids who generally enjoyed school as an elementary student, but then you hit middle school and for whatever reason it's no longer wonderful. I think that's one of the many reasons I want to be an elementary school teacher, so I can teach kids when it's still wonderful. Or maybe I should be going into secondary ed so I can make school still be wonderful after moving on...eh whatever.

The past two years of college have been both good and bad, speaking specifically about academics. I have had classes I've loved. I've had classes I've disliked. I've even had a couple classes I've loathed. Dr. Kimball's stink eye and stupid hip hopping TA for American Heritage sure make that last list. Anyways, for my first three semesters I plugged through my GEs, occasionally getting to hit up an el ed class that doubled for a GE credit. Some of those have been my favorite classes that I've taken, such as Children's Literature. I have not enjoyed any of the science classes I've had to take. But I plugged through, managed good grades, and entered the elementary education program for Winter 2010.

The first couple months of the semester were hell. Yeah, I said hell. And I mean it. I honestly don't know how I physically survived. I would wake up super early to get to class at 8, be on campus, usually actually sitting in a class, until 5, and then I went to work from 5-9. After work was usually some form of socializing just so I could stay sane, and then at midnight I'd finish the rest of my homework. Flipping through my journal from that period of my life I constantly see phrases like, "Didn't get to bed until 3" or "Stayed up till 4:30 to finish all my reading." Saturdays were spent at the library. It was awful.

But again, somehow time passed and I survived. After that first week when my fellow el ed roommates and I seriously thought about dropping out and going to Paul Mitchell I realized that I liked what I was doing and after time the work load lightened considerably.

I don't think I would have said that I loved school that semester though. All of my classes were fine arts classes and how to incorporate them into the classroom, so they were way fun, but I felt like not all of them were totally applicable. Then I certainly did not love school Spring semester. Ugh. I really don't know how I managed to make it through those two months on top of everything.

I spent the summer lounging by the pool, reading, working, and enjoying no responsibilities of school. And then that came to an end like everything else.

School started yesterday. I was sort of dreading it. But sort of looking forward to it as well. I did not know at all what to expect for my classes though. They handed us a schedule in March and said, here, sign up for these sections of these classes. So I hardly even knew what classes I was taking. So, yeah, I was just a little bit wary. Especially because they're all 2-3 hour long classes. That sounds like no good.

But then I showed up to my educational psychology class at 8 yesterday and I knew it was going to be an awesome semester. I got my homework done during my break after that class. Math in the afternoon didn't even seem so bad. I got that homework done at work. Work is going to be decent this semester with some new people on the crew and a nice fat raise that my lovely boss gave me. Today I had a literacy class that I think might be my new favorite class that I've taken. Got that homework done and came home and just laid out by the pool and now I'm about to head to work. It's Tuesday afternoon and I have no homework.

But that's not even why I love school. I love school because I know that I'm where I'm supposed to be, doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Talking and learning and reading about how kids learn and what we as teachers need to do for them makes me so excited to get in the classroom and start doing my work. I just smile to myself and feel so good about it. Teaching is going to be more than just a job to pay the bills. I'm so excited that all of my classes are getting me so excited for this.

And so that's why I love school.


p.s. Did I mention that I love school?