The Last First Day of School

It's here: my last first day of school as a student. It only took me 24 years to make it to today. There have been a few last first days of school, but today is the only real last first day of school because by this time next year, I will be Dr. Kelsie.

The first day of school my senior year of high school was unmemorable. There are pictures of me from that morning in pajamas with my hands above my head. I must have been cheering when the picture was taken. I don't remember much about that year or the first day of school.  I drove a truck named Bubba, I was rarely on time to my first period class, I learned to tie my shoes while driving, and German and auto shop were the only classes I didn't skip. The rest of the year is best not remembered, but the picture of me remains.

The first day of school my senior year of college was spent running around campus, tracking down higher ups who could process my credits from Germany to determine whether I would graduate as planned. The new history department chair signed paper work for me that allowed me to get a history teaching license, the department of education gave me a BS reason to retake a stupid class about how not to teach because they made an error, and at some point I probably attended class. There was no picture taken.

Then I decided to get an MA and on the first day of school during my second year as an MA student, my office mate declared it "The year of us" because it would be the cool year of graduate school. And it was (except I took 5 graduate classes and taught three German classes that semester). No one took a picture. I think I had secret plans at that time to get a PhD, I just didn't tell anyone.

Last year the first week of classes was insane. There were long lines and crowds everywhere and I found myself asking where all of those students came from and how long it would be until they stopped attending classes. About two weeks later they disappeared and campus seemed normal again. Because the first week was a headache last year, I debated coming to campus today. In the end, the fact that it's my official last first day of school convinced me I should come, which was a good choice.

So how has the first day been? We mysteriously have a new office manager as of today. I spent the morning showing her the file system in the department office. My department chair informed me of his intent to split Kelly and I apart after being office buddies for 5 years so that two incoming TAs who teach together can share an office. I haven't decided who should move yet. I probably have 3 times more office accessories to relocate, but he has bigger books. As most of my graduate school career resembles Harry Potter, this must be like the the time Harry left Harmione in the tent and then got trapped in freezing water under ice. Therefore, I conclude that Kelly leaves the office and I continue to see how much useful stuff I can fit in here... Returning to today's events, I made a to-do list for the day related to Geraldine and completed half of it. I now know what to work on tomorrow. I also ran into a former German student of mine, which was a pleasant surprise. And he still speaks German (kinda). He has decided to take linguistic classes and I am convinced that my students do enjoy my classes after all. Other highlights of the day include riding my bike for 15 miles, arguing with someone who works in the library (no surprise), developing a random aversion to broccoli and being accused of having fully acclimated to this region of the US.  So, in retrospect, it was a such a good first last day of school, that I might come back again tomorrow. :) And there's a picture to mark the occasion.