My Thoughts on Not Going Back to School

It's been starting to hit me lately. For the first time in nearly 20 years, I will not be starting another year of school in the coming weeks. I guess it's something that I've known to be true, but haven't exactly been prepared for. I was taken aback the other day when I asked a friend (a rising senior at Trinity) to grab a drink and he said it would have to be in the coming week, or else he'd back at school. When he told me that, I realized that I would not be joining him.

It's hard to think about the fact that I'm going to be slaving away in a cubicle for the indefinite future. It's harder to reflect on my years at school, be it at Trinity as a Bantam, or Framingham as a Flyer, and not think of how much I took for granted. I don't mean just the social situations; but I got an incredible education, and for the first 18 years of my life, it was free! That's a luxury not everybody in the world is blessed with.

I certainly don't wish I could go back. I was ready to grow up, and that's what I've done. I have an apartment now, and bills to pay. I consider myself lucky to have such a good job. But it doesn't mean I don't wish I could thank a few people for their influence on me through my times at school.

Like Ms. Molliver, my sage teacher, who challenged me in many ways. Or Ms. Purcell who taught me some behavioral lessons. Sometimes I wonder what Mr. G, my 7th grade math teacher is up to. Although I'd be perfectly content with never seeing stupid Madame LePain again.

It's nice thinking about my days in the Framingham Public School system. Maybe some day I'll have kids who I can tell stories to about my days going to Mrs. Davis, the school nurse, or about me getting in trouble for yelling obscene things on a school trip at the age of 10. But until that day comes, all I can do is remember those days and remind myself that I've been lucky. And hopefully, the luck doesn't run out.