Back to school...back to school...

Today was my 20th first day of school, and thankfully my last first day of school ever. It's truly hard to fathom that I have been doing the same thing for 20 years of my life. 20 years seems like such a long time! I can be super indecisive, have commitment issues, and absolutely love change, so I'm a bit horrified that I have spent 20 years doing essentially one thing. However, anyone who knows me knows not to even get me started on the importance of education and educators (a recent argument with my boyfriend that teachers are far more important than doctors in the life of a child resulted in me sounding slightly over-zealous), so I think I'll let this 20 year commitment fear slide. In order to remain positive and enthusiastic about this final year of law school, I am creating a list of things I love about school (note: not all of these things actually still exist by the time one gets to law school).

1. Getting school supplies. I loved going to Target/Walmart/Walgreens to get the cutest Lisa Frank notebooks and matching neon folders (plus pencils, pens, trapper keeper, erasers, pencil holder, and other unnecessary crap).

2. Carefully planning my first day of school outfit. Today I wore a yellow Sweet Pea dress with a cropped jean jacket. 20 years ago I wore a pink and teal getup complete with stir-up pants, two pairs of colored slouchy socks with one pushed down carefully over the other, LA Lights, a slouchy shirt and a side pony tail.

3. The smell of fresh paper. I love Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue perfume because I think it smells like paper.

4. Cupcakes/cookies/candy on birthdays and holidays. I got in trouble with my kindergarten teacher because I was licking the frosting off my fingers while passing out my birthday cupcakes to the class.

5. The feeling you get right after you print out a thick, final copy of a paper you have just spent hours/days/weeks writing, staple it together, and just hold it, look at it, and feel its weight in your hands.

6. Decorating my locker with silly magnets, cool magazine cut-outs, pictures of my friends, and of course, a locker mirror.

7. Reading hour. It was always my favorite time of day when we curled up in a cozy corner of the room and were free to read any book.

8. Passing notes in class. Remember LYLAS, BFFL, WBS, 4 YOUR EYES ONLY, MUAH? And the ridiculous origami folds? And when your friend accidently found a note where you and another girl were talking about her?

9. Trying not to stare at the cute guy in Calculus II from across the lecture hall, gushing about "Calculus Boy" for about 2 weeks with your roommate, rejoicing and feeling such a sense of accomplishment when he talks to you and then, gasp, asks you on a date, and then realizing not long after that he is the most boring person ever. Repeat.