The back-to-school rush is on the list of things that we took for granted in the past. Now with COVID-19 and everything associated with it, such as lockdown, online classes, and social distancing, this time of the year is much less exciting.
Sure, we always dreamed of a never-ending summer holiday, but now that we are actually kinda living it, there is a lot of stuff about going back to school that we miss. Here’s some of them:
#1 The back-to-school shopping
You just had to have the trendiest backpack, the coolest pens, and the perfect water bottle. After all, you have to go to school in style, or what’s the point of going in the first place?
#2 Bookbinding family day
Remember how we used to make a day out of bookbinding? It was a family activity where everybody would get involved, and often over-involved.
You, your parents, and your siblings would gather in front of the TV drinking tea and watching some Lebanese series, and each one of you will handle a specific task until all the books are perfectly done.
#3 Writing your name on everything
You had to write your name on 30 books, 20 notebooks, your pencil case, your water bottle, and even your uniform because… God forbid, you lose any of your stuff.
Your mom would give you a two hours long lecture on valuing your things while your mind sails into the near future imagining a classmate here and there using your cool stuff.
#4 Erasing previous writings on used books
Unless you were an elite, your parents always bought you used books, or at least some or many of them. Your job was to spend days and days erasing all the previous writings. I can feel my hand hurting just thinking about it, don’t you?
#5 The makeover
Duh! You need to impress everyone! New school year? New hair, new glasses, new shoes, new you. That’s the drill. And if you used to wear a uniform, you were always jealous of older students who didn’t have to.
#6 Your parents’ back-to-school speech
Who among us doesn’t have the “when I was your age, we used to walk to school in the middle of a thunderstorm” speech memorized? There’s also the “we used to study with no internet and electricity” speech and the “we used to have classes under oak trees” speech.
Ah, and the “half a Lira pocket money would get us a manoushe and a drink” speech… (Oh dear, the good L.L. days of papa and mama!)
#7 The time-alone ritual before D-Day
The endless stacks of books, the memories of waking up every day at 6:30 a.m, spending endless hours on homework and assignments, stressing over exams… it all feels too real now that you are about to go through that torment again for months.
#8 Saying farewell to your summertime activities
Long gone are the days when you played video games all day long, when you had absolutely no responsibilities, and when every day you woke up and the possibilities are endless…
There was just so much fun stuff to do, and now it’s all coming to an end and you go trying to pile up all that you can of summer activities in one single day.
#9 Waking up with a purpose
Remember the Picon and Nutella commercials where kids always woke up for school happy and jumping up and down on the bed? Yeah, no one could relate to that. However, no matter how awful waking up early was, it felt nice to have a purpose.
#10 The big reunion
This must be the best part of going back to school. Getting to see all your friends and favorite teachers again made all the struggles worth it.
Whether you are still a student or not, we all have one thing in common right now: the nostalgia. We miss these rituals, we miss the good old days…
