Another summer has come and gone.
In my opinion, the last half or so of summer break was more than a little sad.
A comic legend took his own life. Riots have broken out in Ferguson, Missouri.
ISIS is beheading people in Iraq, including an American photojournalist. A high school teacher in Oklahoma showed up drunk and without pants to the first day of school.
And those are just the stories that made the news.
That said, welcome back.
For those of us coming back to school, it’s a brand new year. New beginnings of any sort are a good time to reflect and reassess what you are doing.
Why are you here?
To get a degree, you say. But it’s what you plan to do with the degree that will make the difference.
I’m not trying to sound like your extended family here, asking over dinner exactly what you plan on doing after you graduate.
If you, like me, are in denial that summer is really over already and cold, dark days are not far off, take a minute to remind yourself why you are here.
It gives you a goal, something to remind yourself of when you are three essays into despair.
Sometimes it’s easy to complain and want to give up and hard to remember why your work
is important.
For me, this is my penultimate year of college. I am working towards a degree in Middle Childhood Education and I can’t wait to introduce my future students to the wonders of “Schoolhouse Rock.”
It matters to me to be a guide for preteens and young adults, for many reasons; one being the fact a teacher may be the only one in a young person’s life to give him or her what is needed most.
Take the start of this new school year to think about how you can be a good change to the world.
How can you make a difference in your chosen career, both right now and in the future?
Respond to Abigail at
