First Day of School 2016

Today marks the beginning of my nineteenth year of teaching. No matter how much experience I have, the first day always catches me by surprise.

I'm surprised at how fast the day goes by.
I'm surprised by how many students from last year want to say hi and talk about their summer.
I'm surprised at how sore my throat and my feet are.
I'm surprised by how, no matter how underprepared I might feel, I never get through everything I need to say on the first day.
I'm surprised at how tired I am by the end of the day.
I'm surprised by how quickly I get invested in students I hadn't even met until today.

I'm surprised that these things surprise me year after year.