Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Back to School

dhermann1

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,154
Location
Da Bronx, NY, USA
Well, even tho it's . . . uhhh . . . many decades since I was in school, the approach of that momentous day still has a deep emotional impact on me.
Tho it has no actual effect on my life, I hate the whole idea of the "end of summer".
Please compare and contrast.
 

Dan'l

Practically Family
Messages
821
Location
Somewhere in time
I'm a teacher sooo... "back to school" is still a very real part of my life. It's nice, however, being on the "other side of the desk."
For me it means the end of summer vacation but it also means Autumn is near and that's always been my favorite season. Cooler temps and fewer insects, time to go camping.
Every year my students are the same age as the previous group, but I'm always a year older :p
 

Beaubeau

New in Town
Messages
44
Location
Florida
I lived in an area that started school that to most people were extremely early. Fine example of this was the first time I tried to read the first Harry Potter book: I started reading the first Harry Potter book the first day of school in 1999. I read up to where Hagrid gives Harry his Hogwarts letter that says that Hogwarts, a boarding school, started September First and I closed the book and was like "Well, there's nothing I can relate to in here...". That day was August 3, 1999.

So to me, the end of July is very "Oh Schooltimes, the advent of the start of learning! The sacred halls of learning and exploration, etc. etc." emotionally.
 

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
Autumn is my favorite season, but the beginning of school has always put me in a funk, regardless of age. College was a slight exception because I wanted to be there, but even then I was dreading it.

I didn't enjoy school much, and I had very bad experiences there. The end of summer was very much akin to the end of life for me.:(
 

RetroToday

A-List Customer
Messages
466
Location
Toronto, Canada
Yeah, even though I haven't been in school for some time, the psychological impact of the constant "back to school" advertising on the tv and radio do make me slightly depressed.

Now I guess it's mainly because it symbolizes the end of good summer weather, which never lasts long enough here. However I do enjoy Autumn, up until all the leaves fall off the trees.
 

CherryWry

One of the Regulars
Messages
139
Location
New Hampshire
I work at a college, but since I'm in marketing, I don't get summers off. I've conditioned myself to think of back to school as a new year/new opportunity rather than the end of summer. Slightly less depressing that way. [huh]
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,684
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
Back to School is a pain for me -- all my best concession people go back to college, and it's tough to find help to fill their jobs. I keep trying to convince them that an English degree will only get them a job selling popcorn anyway, so why not get right to it now?
 

Flat Foot Floey

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,220
Location
Germany
It's even "nicer" if you have some deadlines after the summer break. I use to wait too long until I start. Stupid me.:whistling
 

Foofoogal

Banned
Messages
4,884
Location
Vintage Land
I always feel so sad for the children now as we didn't have to go back to School till after Labor Day. Seems like they just got out for Summer.
I still get excited as it is me going. I loved preparing for the first day. I still emotionally think Plaid when this time rolls around. On the Powder Room there is a thread about first pair of shoes. I will always remember my plaid dress and plaid satchel with big Husky pencil, Big Chief tablet, round scissors, Prang paints and paste tub. It is ingrained in my brain with much fondness.
 

The Good

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,361
Location
California, USA
I go back on August 30th, and I'm actually not too enthusiastic. The fact of the matter is, I'm taking my first college mathematics course, an advanced algebra class. I'm going to try this advanced class, as due to my high school grades, I'm eligible to take it right away, basically. Apart from this, I'm taking an American literature (Late 19th century to present), and an American history course (same period as literature). Mathematics has always taken me quite a while to actually learn new concepts, though my grades have been good.

I'm a history enthusiast first and foremost. I intend to pursue a degree in either general history, classics, or archaeology, as I feel as if these subjects will be relatively easy for me, due to the fact that I am actually motivated.
 

AmateisGal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,126
Location
Nebraska
I love it - because it means 1) a return to a routine for my daughter and I (we both do much better with a routine) and 2) that summer is almost over.

I enjoyed school and always loved this time of year as a kid and even in high school and college. The best part is shopping for school supplies, but maybe that's just the writer in me. Anything dealing with paper and pens and notebooks and folders...well, I just get a little excited, is all. :D

This summer has been extremely hard for me. My intolerance to heat is getting worse every year. I seriously want to move somewhere cooler just from June through August
 

Geesie

Practically Family
Messages
717
Location
San Diego
Flat Foot Floey said:
It's even "nicer" if you have some deadlines after the summer break. I use to wait too long until I start. Stupid me.:whistling

For me, it's more that last semester's finals week was an interruption in my lab work. Then it was out to the field, back to the lab, out to sea, back in the lab. The only difference that the semester starting is going to make is that there are going to be a bunch of undergrads running around the place annoying me instead of my nice empty workspace.
 

Undertow

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,126
Location
Des Moines, IA, US
LizzieMaine said:
Back to School is a pain for me -- all my best concession people go back to college, and it's tough to find help to fill their jobs. I keep trying to convince them that an English degree will only get them a job selling popcorn anyway, so why not get right to it now?

lol :eusa_clap

If only you could have been my college counseler!
 

1961MJS

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,370
Location
Norman Oklahoma
LizzieMaine said:
Back to School is a pain for me -- all my best concession people go back to college, and it's tough to find help to fill their jobs. I keep trying to convince them that an English degree will only get them a job selling popcorn anyway, so why not get right to it now?

Hi Lizzie

I typed this once and deleted it, since it labels me as a complete Smart A**, but... My childhood best friend's kid is going to my Alma mater. I have one of my old tuition /fees bills for $309 in 1981 for the semester. The neighbor kid is paying $5,500 a semester for the same thing, tuition and fees. At $11,000 a year for tuition, $500 for books, and another $10,000 for his Dorm, how can it possibly be worth his time and especially money? I suggested that his parents just by him a trailer and keep him in free booze and Ra mien noodles for 4 years and then put him to work at their appliance store. lol I got overruled. With the current costs of college, the only majors that pay you back in real $ are engineering, Pre-Med, Pre-Vet, Accounting, and possibly finance degrees. The rest are either not worth the money, or "Just for fun". In my esteemed opinion, no middle class American should have to use scholarships so send their kid to a state university. Somewhere, someone is putting one over on us...

Rant mode off. :rage:
 

Paisley

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,439
Location
Indianapolis
1961MJS said:
With the current costs of college, the only majors that pay you back in real $ are engineering [etc.]

I have a mechanical engineering degree and never found any of those $100,000 a year jobs I keep hearing about. [huh] Without a scholarship and the GI Bill, I'd have been out a heck of a lot of money.

As for back-to-school time, I'm enjoying the cooler temperatures.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
108,940
Messages
3,071,128
Members
54,003
Latest member
brendastoner
Top