Summer has passed the half way mark and for children all over the country that means the new school year is fast approaching. New classes, new locker combos and a whole new year of drama that has not yet unfolded. I was reminded of how exciting and terrifying a new school year can be due to a recent phone conversation with my younger cousin. She is starting Junior High in a few weeks and is understandably nervous. I couldn’t help but be reminded of my first days. I remember the first day of High School being pretty horrific. The idea of remembering 3 different locker combos -gym, regular, orchestra- was nervewracking as was navigating the hallways, finding my friends for open lunch (the entire school-1200 or so kids- eats lunch during the same period = crazy!) and just figuring things out in general. I know I cried that afternoon when I got home, thoroughly exhausted from that first day. By the second day I felt slightly less lost than the day before and I went to a meeting to join the Flag Twirling squad - part of the marching band - a decision that would shape the course of my High School career, in a good way.

Joining something not only helped me meet hundreds of kids but it also gave me a sense of school pride. I remained on the squad all four years, going on two trips to national competitions. Once coming in 2nd place, and the year I was a captain coming in first in our division. I vividly remember those times, how much fun they were, how connected I felt to the school and my classmates, how awesome it felt to have our hard work pay off.

If there is one thing I learned from my scholastic career it is that first days almost always suck. If they don’t you are really lucky, but usually they are the toughest day you will face. Naturally the second day will be a little less worse and so on, until you find yourself feeling totally normal. It is important to keep that lesson in mind as we move on to new things in life.

The first day of anything new will be the hardest day. So just keep in mind that the second day will be better than the first and if you are lucky the last day will be filled with terrific memories and great sadness because it is all ending.

Thankfully there is usually a new first day of something lurking around the corner.

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