Middle age plus 8/21

Thursday, August 21, 2003

I liked school- all the way from kindergarten through college. I only had one or two teachers that I didn't either like, or at least respect, if I didn't particularly like their personality. I was fortunate that I had a very good educational background from public school before I got to college. Therefore only one college course was any problem for me. That was Chemistry 101. I passed it, but it was touch and go for awhile. I don't know if it was really so hard, or I was psyched into thinking it would be too hard before I even entered the class. Other classes that had a hard reputation didn't phase me, but this one did. I guess my mind works better in other areas. My very favorite class was a college prep English class I took when I was a senior in high school. Mrs. Oppenheimer was a demanding teacher who asked a lot of her students. We wrote term papers such as we later needed to do in college. I have always been able to write profusely about nothing, (I have a feeling that fact doesn't surprise my readers!) so these term paper challenges were welcomed. But the very best thing Mrs. Oppenheimer did for us was make us memorize quantities of poetry lines. She selected certain required verses, which we had to either recite in class or write on examination papers. I can still remember most of them. The further I get into middle age plus the more I see the reasoning behind her selections. I find myself saying lines quietly when I am faced with certain situations. Her selections from the classics were those that dealt with truths about life. In college, after I aborted my major in Home Economics and switched to English, I again was blessed with professors who helped us see the wisdom in the works we were studying. Dr. Fairchild, at the University of Missouri was a renowned Shakespearean scholar. I was lucky enough to be in one of his last few classes before he retired. His class in Jesse Hall was always crowded, but it still had an intimate feel as he walked between the rows while reading lines from King Lear. I was happy that the large auditorium lecture classes were not used in those smaller enrollment, World War II days. So, with all these happy memories of school, why am I always slightly sad to see the beginning of the fall school term? I have no classes to attend, or children to get ready for school. But I always hate to see the end of summer roll around. Now that school is starting earlier than the traditional after Labor Day opening, I am even sadder. The weather stays just as hot if school is in session or not, but many of the summertime pleasures, such as water sports, picnics etc. come to an end when school starts. The summertime availability of employees has gone back into the classrooms, so pools and resorts are forced to close or curtail their hours. Vacation trips, visits with relatives and spontaneous outings with the family have to end. We get back into our routine of work/school/housework/meetings/responsibilities when our minds are really still set in mode of carefree summer days. The excitement is gone from the summer and "tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow creep in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time" but a newer verse also proclaims, "the sun will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar…" So, let the schools begin. There will be another summer, for someone, anyway.

To Read More
Subscribe Sign In
Continue reading with a subscription
Subscription options