It is that time of year again — when beach towels are replaced by backpacks, when boats are replaced by school buses, and when late-night hanging out with friends is replaced by late-night studying. Some like it, others hate it. Whether I like it or not, school has begun and is off to its usual routine.
The first day of school for a typical teenager goes as follows:
Wake up earlier than usual and, after lying in bed for 10 minutes or so, groggily drag myself over to the bathroom where I turn on the shower to a luke-warm temperature. I personally like to, every so often, turn the temperature of the water up when my body adjusts to the heat of the water so I stay warm throughout the entire shower.
After a hot, 15-minute long shower, I will change into my outfit for school. Depending on what type of student I am, I may have had this outfit picked out for days or am just putting on whatever was left in my closet.
Once I’m dressed, I run downstairs to go eat a light breakfast. Some toast and orange juice or a bowl of cereal will do just fine.
Now it’s time to get my cosmetics done.
No teenager, no matter how nonchalant or to-cool-for-school they are, can deny spending extra time on their appearance on the first day of school. I must brush my teeth for an extra minute to make those pearly whites extra clean. Also, no matter how many brushstrokes it takes, I can’t stop brushing until the hairdo is absolutely perfectly presentable for the whole world to see.
Congrats! We are all ready for the first day of school. I give my parents a hug and head out the door.
But wait! I forgot the first day of school pictures. Some families, like mine, find it necessary every year to take 10 minutes out of every morning on the first day of school to take these pictures of my sister and me, even after expressing my public dislike for doing so. But I guess that’s part of the whole experience.
After I say my final good-byes to my parents, I wait at the bus stop and make some awkward small talk with my neighbors until the bus arrives. Once the bus shows up, I take a seat and make some more small talk with other students or just sit at a window seat and listen to my iPod.
At school, I am surprised to see that, besides the new class of freshmen, Darien High School seems to be pretty much the same.
Since the buses are usually very crowded on the first day of school, they also run very late — causing me to have to run to homeroom to be on time. Luckily, though, most teachers don’t seem to mind tardiness on the first day of school.
In homeroom, I will get my schedule for the first semester. As soon as the teacher looks away, I take a picture of my schedule with my phone and send it to all my friends and hope that I share some classes with them.
When homeroom ends, I head to my first period class — honors chemistry, not too exciting.
The best part about the day is figuring out who is in our classes. Unfortunately, it only takes a few minutes to see who is in my class, so the other 40 minutes or so of class is filled with teachers doing the same old thing. Maybe they play a game called “Two Truths and a Lie” to get to know you or go through the class syllabus.
By the end of the school day, the excitement of the first day of school wears off and is replaced by the antsy-ness to go home and relax. To the dismay of most students, some teachers have assigned homework or a test in the near future, causing much angst.
Once at home, I am berated by my parents for a minute-to-minute description of how the first day went. This is kind of annoying, but also flattering to know how much we are cared about.
After I am done talking about my day, I put my feet up and relax for a few minutes before getting my parents to sign permission slips, emergency forms, etc. I may have some homework to do such as write a paragraph about myself, but that’s about it for the first day.
That is pretty much it for the first day of school.
Once I’m done with all my work I might watch some television, play on my computer, or hang out with friends.
I will probably want to go to bed earlier than usual because I’m so tired from everything that has happened. It’s been quite a long day.
When I’m lying in bed, I think — One down, 179 to go.
Brendan Ferguson is a sophomore at Darien High School and has written for the Neirad, the high school’s newspaper.
