"And there are people who forget what it's like to be 16 when they turn 17..."
Stephen Chbosky's words have always stuck with me, not just for their absolute simplicity, but for their profound honesty. The concept of time, always elusive, makes fools of us all, when we grow up to do things we always said we wouldn't, and when we forget what it felt like to score our first basket and hear our parents cheering like mad. When we tell ourselves we'll be in school "foooorever" and act miserable about it, and when we find ourselves facing our last two months of college and wondering where all that in-between time went... Clearly, I've been spending a lot of time reflecting on this in the past few weeks, and in honor of the good old elementary days, I've brought back a few of my favorite primary school staples here...
1. Pencil sharpeners on the wall
Do they still make these anymore?
2. Dioramas
Simultaneously the worst and greatest part of my schooling. Making them was terrible but admiring them afterward was exhilarating.
3. Folder forts
Ain't nobody cheating off MY test!
4. Minute math
Tbh this was the beginning of the end and I should've dropped out at this point.
5. Having SNACK time and RECESS
...which was a parking lot for 8 years of my life but somehow became the most amazing plot of pavement any of us had ever seen.
6. The 100th day of school celebrations!
If you need me I'll be off trying to make the most creative hat with 100 somethings covering its surface while crying and yelling because my mom and I have terrible ideas
7. Having a class called "computers"
Can I sign up for that in college too?
8. When sports were just super fun and not super competitive
But then the try-hards were bred and things got :/
9. All the COLORING in Kindergarten that we took for granted
Hello why yes, I would love to paint all his spots bright pink and his coat an unnerving shade of bright blue!
10. CUBBIES
WAYYYY cooler than cubicles.
11. The grocery bags lining the hallway filled with snow boots and snowpants in the winter
and the rosy-cheeked kids who came sloshing in after their midday fun only to make the janitor's life a living hell
12. Green cards, yellow cards, and red cards
When people ask me what my accomplishments are... well, hey, I never got a red card so that's gotta count for something.
13. Learning cursive
And being convinced that you'd never be able to switch back to "print" again.. and yet...
14. All your favorite mandatory concert performances
Smiling cause they haven't yet realized they are TRAPPED. DOOMED. Bout to get a recorder thrown in their hand and told to play the same four notes over and over because that's all they know.
14. Scholastic Book Fairs
I LIVED for these.
15. Going on field trips!!!
Best.day.ever.
16. Celebrating everyone's birthdays in school
#NeverForget my birthday in 3rd grade when we went on a field trip to see cows and my birthday sort of fell to the wayside....... because of cows.....
17. And, of course, getting 25 Valentines
... from a bunch of kids who I definitely did not want to "be mine"
