The First Day of School

Today is the first day of school in this very different year of 2020.

Normally, first day of school is like the start of a new year, maybe even more so.  People go to school to better themselves, to expand their minds, to interact with others, and to learn.  The essence of school is self-improvement even if attending may not really be a choice for most.

It is exciting for students.  I was always enamored with this time of year as a student.  It was almost magical.  The first day of school is the start of something new.  The first day of school is exciting and full of hope.  It is new teachers, new school supplies, new books, and new clothes.  It is like the opening day of baseball, especially when I was a kid.  Every team has the potential to win the World Series.  Every kid in school has the potential to self-actualize and there is theoretically no limit to how much they can overachieve.  Of course, within a few days, reality sets in and the excitement wears off allowing for routine and, sometimes, drudgery to set-in. 

I was excited when my kids went to school.  I loved their first day of school.  My daughter always sent me a first day of school photo from kindergarten through her teaching career.  Now she sends me photos of my grandson’s first day.  He looks so happy.  Since becoming a professor, I do the same for my grandkids.  This year I will send two photos: with and without a mask.

This first day of school is very different.  We are opening with excitement but it is tempered.  It is tempered because of this lingering pandemic.  We have done a lot of work to prepare to be able to open our university to a mix of online, remote, and face-to-face classes.  We have developed protocols for safety and sanitation to keep our students, staff, and faculty well.  Many students want to be on campus and interact with each other.  Many faculty and staff also want to be back in the classroom and offices respectively.  It is our jobs but it is also a calling and thus a labor of love. 

This being said, there are many of us who are in a high risk categories or live with others are in high risk categories.  Such faculty members are teaching totally online.  Likewise, there are students who are in high risk categories even though they are young or live with an elderly relative.  These students are attend classes remotely.  Some students, faculty, and staff are just plain old afraid.

Our classrooms have been rearranged to facilitate social distancing and thus hold less students.  As a result, some classes have more students than seats.  This requires platooning our classes so that half the class is present and the other half is joining in online.  While in class, everyone is required to wear masks, clean their workspaces as they enter, and not rearrange the socially distanced furniture.  Part of it will feel very familiar and part will seem odd and maybe a little eerie.

So, it is the first day of school.  I am filled with mix of hope, excitement, and concern. I hope all our planning and preparation yields a positive experience for us all.  We are fairly confident we can manage the classroom experience.  We are counting on our students to temper their youthful exuberance and follow the regimen in their free time and on weekends.

It is the first day of school.