The First Day

Today was officially the first day of school. My school, being the unique place it is, had students come in for about two hours to go over the class list and internship offerings. Tomorrow they come back in to self-register for classes and internships of their choosing, which is often the most stressful day of the year as kids line up at your desk begging you to let them in your class or internship, yelling and crying when they don't get what they want. And this goes on all day for three days.

Today I spent only two hours with my advisees and boy, do I need a drink!

This school year we have a new schedule. One of the many nuances of this new schedule is that students who have classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and internships on Tuesdays and Thursdays begin their day at 9:30am, forty-five minutes later than the old schedule. Friday… is extra special. They have the privilege of beginning their day at 11am. This new schedule was greeted with mixed emotions by staff and students. As we handed out the schedule, one student yelled, "YOU GUYS PUT ADVISORY SECOND PERIOD? GUESS I'M GONNA BE TAKING A LATE BREAKFAST THEN!"

Another student added, "WHY'D YOU HAVE TO CHANGE THIS? I DON'T WANT TO BE IN SCHOOL UNTIL 3:30 ON A FRIDAY. I GOTSTA LEAVE EARLY AND HAVE A SPLIFF—GOT IMPORTANT  SHIT TO DO."

To which I responded, "Well, since you normally don't show up to school until close to 11am, this actually works perfectly for you."

The room burst into fits of laughter and a simultaneous "OOOOOHH!"

"SHE BURNED YOU!"

"DAT WAS A GOOD ONE, JAMIE!"

Perhaps not the best move on my part, but luckily he only sulked briefly. Not to mention it felt so good to hit this smart aleck with a witty one-liner. As unnerving as it can be when a group of teenagers roars simultaneously, it was good to know they like my jokes.

When the  two hours of chaos and confusion ended, my coworker turned to me and said, "So, um, my group is pretty chill, huh?"

"You mean, unlike mine who are bouncing off the walls, constantly talking and yelling, unable to shut up?"

"Yeah," he laughed, "exactly."