The First Day of School
I feel too much.
I feel everything.
I feel too deeply.
I feel it all, everywhere, all the time.
Another Florida summer in stifling, suffocating heat, created by brilliant sunshine. Another day comes to a close. The sun sinks behind the trees, and another summer will soon come to a close with the sinking sun. I’ve tried to soak up as many memorable moments of summer, like I soak up sunshine during afternoons by the pool, on my grandparents’ ten acres of land.
I wrote these words a few weeks ago, on a hot night at the end of July. i was sitting in my grandparents’ living room, the soft glow of the T.V lighting my way, A cooking show on in the background. My body was toasted from hours spent outside. My muscles were deliciously sore from swimming. I was content and happy in my favorite place. Thoughts of “real life” were far away.
Fast forward to today, it’s the start of another school year. I’ve been out of high school for eight years, and yet here I am back in my sixth-grade math classroom. Alright, it’s my mom’s classroom, she’s taught at the same school for the last twenty-one years, and I was five when she started here. I’ve spent countless hours in this classroom and at this school, both as a daughter and a student way back when. I’m almost 27 now, long past being a sixth grader or middle schooler, but because of life circumstances, I’m back sitting here, writing at my mom’s desk.
Yes, I could gripe and groan about my life being “stuck,” Which, trust me, my younger self did do. Today, I feel good, though. I’m looking at this new school year as a new start for myself. A new chapter, if you will.
I am not a teacher nor part of the school staff in a technical sense; I’ve settled in and created my own position within the staff and the surrounding community. I am part of the team.
My first poetry collection is now in the editing stages. I’m also in the earliest stages of writing a novel- a sequel to my short story The Midnight Kiss. My mom thinks that eventually her classroom will be famous because of something I will write. Who knows, maybe she’s right?
Today, August 11th, 2025, as I write this blog post, I can actually say that I’m happy and ready for the next chapter of my life, and the adventures that are sure to come along with it
Happy first day of school, everyone!