I’ve never been a morning person nor will I ever be, but there’s just something about waking up on a school morning, having the cold air and warm sun hit your skin, listening to the whip-poor-will sing his morning song.

Being locked in a house with your family for multiple months at a time is everything but therapeutic, but September has now rolled around and we are back to square one.

Always having n0 expectations for anything can come in handy, I wasn’t very thrilled for the next 180 days of work but the social side of my personality was screaming and ready to talk to everyone. 

To start my first day of junior year, I felt like I was new to the scenery but been here a thousand times. A new sense of misdirection occurred while walking to my first class in the 700 hallway, seeing all new faces and missing the old ones, my brother being one of them. It was the first year I had in school where my brother wasn’t with me.

He’s moved on to bigger and better things, well definitely better at least. Walking into my classroom I recognized my teacher almost immediately, Mr. Bogz, my gym teacher freshman year and moral support guide. I was greeted with a large smile and a welcome.

Mr. Bogz definitely didn’t recognize me when I went up to talk to him, but after a short interaction he immediately knew it was me. I sat in the front row of seats while people filed into the classroom behind me.

The first day of school is always sitting and listening, and maybe even sometimes you get to do introductions. Most of my classes consisted of getting lost, asking questions, and trying to find anyone I knew. For lunch I sat with friends and friends of friends. It was nice to be around people my age and be able to talk face to face instead of zoom.

A wave of deja vu came over me as I walked into the learning center to eat. Remembering freshman year and having conversations with friends about our sports coming up and what we were gonna do during summer. It filled me with happiness for all of a moment, and then I returned to the present, with my free but gross school lunch.

I sat with friends and friends of friends.

It was nice to be around people my age and be able to talk face to face. I could tell the people around me also seemed more energized and lively. Leaving the learning center was no easy feat, the hallway was packed like Woodstock 1969, no moving, people yelling, and what felt like thousands of people going through a feet ft wide door. 

Afternoon classes were my favorite of the bunch, math, study hall, gym, and Spanish. Listening to my Algebra 2 teacher Mr. R talk about what we will be learning this year is what ended my first day of Junior year.

My parents always came to pick me up after the first day of school. “How was it?” said my mother as I got in the passenger’s seat, “good. nothing crazy, my expectations were nonexistent.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“Well maybe you should make some expectations so you do better.”

My mom said snappingly “No, I don’t think I will.”

I said with a smile going from one ear to the other.