Saturday, August 24, 2013

Firsts.......

As I stopped for schoolchildren on my way to work, I remembered what the "first" day of school felt like. It always combined fear, anticipation, and excitement. Although, I recalled on my first day of kindergarten, my mother had to call my uncle to help her because I kept running away from her grasp and refused to go to school. They chased me through and around the house but I was quick and did manage to evade them for at least half an hour. Once at school, I was fine but the fear factor was much higher than the excitement factor.


Then there was first day of high school. I had to be "cool" but when I broke out with a zit on my forehead I didn't care what I wore.






The first day of college, I was sure they gave me the wrong key to my dorm room because I couldn't  get the door  open. Of course it was the right key and I was sweating too much to get it into the keyhole.  I remember "Runaround Sue" was the popular song at the time.


First day of grad school I got the worst cold of my life and couldn't stop sneezing and coughing as I took every remedy known at the time. (I also thought I was Black then)


Now, as I prepare to take my first online grad course, I call to register only to find out after having transcripts rushed, filling out forms, and finding the right class, that it is only offered to Virginia residents and that you must take it on-campus. Yes, 95% of it is online but, "I'm so sorry. Didn't anyone tell you it was one of the few courses that required bodily presence?"


There is a first for everything and as we go through them, some are filled with conquest, while others offer disappointment. I must say that as I get older I just shrug and say,  "let's move on."







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