Saturday, August 6, 2016
Graniteville • Vaucluse • Warrenville
Vol. 2, No. 8
It’s Back to School Time! by Anne Fulcher It seems just like yesterday that I was so excited to get back to school and see all my friends and talk about how we spent our summer. Back in the day, school did not take back in until after Labor Day, not so the case these days. I’m sure eventually they will try to have a year round school but that may be light years away. Aiken County students return to the classroom on August 15, 2016. Be ready for road congestion near schools, late and early busses, and kids and parents complaining about the rigors of getting back in the swing of the homework routine. Parents, take heart in these days of confusion and frustration because before you know it, that little first grade angel of yours will be driving off to their first year of college. It seems to drag by during those young years but before you know it, there are no more little ones to make lunches for, help with school projects, and take to practice. I just do not understand where the time went. I remember when my youngest son, Ben, was in kindergarten and all of the aspects of my life he liked to share with his teacher and classmates……. Like the time when he was student of the week and I was brought in for ask the parent. One little girl asked me if I liked my job and of course I politely said yes. Ben popped up and said “No, no, no, you say you hate your job all the time!” Another student asked me if I was married when, yet again, Mr. Ben spoke
up and loudly said, “no, she and my Dad are “REVORCED!” not divorced like I was. I look back on those times and chuckle to myself now but at the time, well honey please, I was just as embarrassed as I could possibly be! My little Ben leaves for graduate school next week, all the way to Muncie, Indiana at Ball State University and yes I will STILL cry. It seems just like last year that he was throwing Mom under the bus. Bless his sweet little heart. School is not just for the young ones though. With public school back in session so do the colleges and technical colleges begin also. But not all students are young ones in higher education classes. And this I can frankly address because I returned back to college at the ripe, mature age of 53. I was a non-traditional student in the traditional classroom setting and boy did I learn lots about life in those 24 months. I learned that I was tougher than I gave myself credit for, especially after breaking my wrist the weekend after mid-terms my first semester back. It was tough enough that I’d not been back to college in forever but then in a cast for 3 months and 2 surgeries, well I ended up failing my math class. Talk about rough goings, I used to sit in the parking lot of USC Aiken and sob but I toughed it out, graduated in 2013 and just graduated with my Master’s degree in May of this year. Have you ever thought about reinventing
yourself and changing careers? What is stopping you from doing just that? After 30 plus years in health care I am now in senior care and happier than I’ve been in many years.
So as these first school bells ring this month, maybe it’s time you are the new student going back to school and not your children. Think about it, it’s never too late!