I gotta go back, back, back to school again….

It’s that time of year! YAY SCHOOL!

Hey, wait! Where are you going? I’m sorry. I can’t help it. It’s just that I have always loved going back to school. (Truth be told, I didn’t like leaving it June!) The smell of my new plastic My Little Pony lunchbox with my matching book bag. Picking up the Bradlees layaway box that all of my new school clothes in it. New stuff, new friends, new schedule, new books!

Why don’t we ever look forward to this anymore? I think it’s because we’ve lost perspective on school.  Kids, teens and young adults are rolling their eyes up into their noggins thinking about how early the alarm is going to go off.

My question is why?

Why aren’t you excited about meeting new people?
Why aren’t you excited about learning something new?
Why aren’t you excited about taking another step toward your goal?

Aha! I got you! I just heard the record screech and now you’re like, “wait…what?”

YES! WHY AREN’T YOU EXCITED ABOUT GETTING CLOSER TO YOUR GOALS?!

School is not daycare for our parents. School is a vehicle for us to be whoever it is we want to be. That’s what makes school powerful. And aside from the book lessons, we get the best life lessons that an environment like school has to offer.

Uh-uh. Get rid of the stink eye. Yes, life lessons. Let me explain.

You don’t like your teacher. The school says, “Oh well. This is your teacher. Have a great year!”.  The lesson: how to deal with a person of authority you don’t like. One day, you could not like your boss or a client. You’re going to have to be able to deal with it. Practice now, while your shelter and groceries won’t suffer if you get it wrong.  You will learn that you can be polite and ask relevant questions and get through the year with minimal scarring.

Using the same scenario above, imagine how you would try to deal with co-workers you don’t like. Inevitably, you’re going to have a group project in which somebody doesn’t do their fair share. That doesn’t mean that you get to tap out too. Do your part.

The life lessons that we get from school are invaluable if we learn to look in the right places.

Be assertive, not aggressive.
Explain your situation, don’t give excuses.
Hold yourself accountable, admit your mistakes.

Long after you’ve forgotten how to solve y=mx+b, the lessons that you learn in the hallways will be just as valuable in reaching your goals as what you learned in the classroom.

Embrace it all. (But I’m not going to judge if you hit the snooze button once or twice.)

BONUS – Gummy Bear Trivia from HRH Robyn Inez!
Be the first to name the movie that contains the songs with the lyric of the post title!