The month of August always finds me longing for a return to school. Yes, even after all these years, I still want the excitement of going to school after the summer is over.
When I was a student, August was the time of the year when new possibilities seemed so close. The weather was still good; it was exciting to see returning schoolmates; and to find out who my teachers would be for the year.
I always knew school got harder each year, but I did not mind it. I loved it all the way through graduate school.
As a child, it was fun to go out to buy new school clothes; get my new books and book covers, and ride the bus. New experiences seemed to be around each corner, every day; and I still long for that simpler time.
Many kids want to grow up fast, but I really fell for parental advice that included the idea that “childhood is a great time because adulthood lasts forever.” It was fun to extend my day by walking to the nearby public library after school to check out my favorite fiction titles. I always went quickly to the romance books by Victoria Holt. However, as I got older, I sought out other genres to read; and by undergraduate school I’d read a sizable amount of the full spectrum of fiction and non-fiction...
