School. Yippee.

So school's about to start here this Tuesday. So far, it seems like everyone who I've talked to has said the same thing: they're glad to be back. I never understood why we were glad to go back to school. It's school. Young people don't like school. But then it hit me: we're not really young people anymore. We're on the verge of being out in the world all on our own like the adults we really are (at least most of us).

But there's something more. School has become my primary residence. I think this is true for most everyone. I mean, think about it. It makes perfect sense. We live here for about 8 months out of the year (not including any summer school sessions). All or most of our friends are here with us. Many of us work within 10 miles of our school. We're comfortable here. But most importantly, it's away from the folks. It's our first chance to be off in the world on our own, but not really. We get to pretend to be living off on our own, but still have the security of the masses around us who are doing the same. Should we fail, we know we can always go back to our parents' home. I've even started to refer to it as such: "my parents' house", rather than "my house."

So I suppose I should be saying, "Welcome home!" to everyone when I see them. Boy, it's good to be back.


P.S. girls rock