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Celebrate the FUN: Anticipation, Reconnecting, and Buying New Stuff

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Celebrate the FUN: Anticipation, Reconnecting, and Buying New Stuff

Most of us spent at least 13 of the first 18+ years of our lives going back to school this time of year. Many of us went back to school in August or September even more years than that – through college, even grad school or medical school…  And for some of us, like me, who chose teaching as a career, there were that many more years…. (In fact, I went back to school for 27 of the first 33 years of my life.) Then of course, our kids went back to school even when we didn’t… so add another 13 or more years to that… So is it any wonder that when late August and September roll around, that we aren’t feeling like… hmmm…. isn’t there SOMETHING I’m supposed to be doing to get ready to go back? Only now the question is, “Go back to…. what?”  It’s beyond nostalgic. It’s momentum. It seems to be almost a biological trigger that makes us yearn for the old days of “going back.” However, I actually think the nostalgia born of momentum has almost nothing to do with going back to school itself. It’s more about three favorite things:  the anticipation of a new experience and a clean slate reconnecting with friends we haven’t seen in awhile and buying new stuff – school supplies, new clothes and shoes and bags. Fun fun fun!  Until the first week of school, and perhaps some homework… when reality again set in.  Oh. Yeah. School. (How far away is summer vacation?) So it struck me that those of us who now work in advocacy, who don’t actually “go back” to anything we haven’t already been doing this time of year, might like the opportunity to enjoy all the FUN aspects of preparing to return to school. It can be a celebration that we don’t have to actually go back (!) combined with some preparation that will make for a far more successful Fall season as advocates. Anticipation:  Just like we counted down the days until school began again, choose a date when you’ll “go back,”…


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