FINAL LAST FIRST DAY

It was a late start for everyone but the freshmen. Including the half hour for lunch, it would be less than three hours that students would need to endure sitting in classes for this first day of school.

In the parking lot, we could see the typical writing on the windows of the seniors’ cars. ‘Senior 2027!’ was the one most used. The one that caught my attention was the one with ‘Last First Day!’ painted on the side window of the white Jeep.

Seeing how my son is the last one of my kids to graduate high school, I realised this was actually the final last first day of high school that we would experience.

Even though our summer was uneventful, my son was dreading this day. Dreading having to deal with a system that focuses on useless information rather than the learning of skills needed for survival as an adult.

As the hours passed by, I waited too long to go pick him up. I recalled how I waited at the side of the school last year and thought my son would show up later, as before. But the staff had hurried the students out the door immediately after the bell rang, so he decided to take the bus.

When he noticed our car passing by, he exited the bus at the next stop and started walking back to the school. I had already left the school parking lot by then and noticed him on the side of the road.

As he got into the car, I let him know that the calls and emails have begun. The ones from the assistant principal informing me how my son ignored him in the hallway as he was headed to his class and then refused to follow him to his office. The final last first day of the senior year was marred by someone who just couldn’t wait to continue the drama of the end of last year.  I thought we would make it at least a week until we heard from him. Unfortunately, that was not the case.