TTA-School Memories

TUESADAY TELL ALL

This week, for posterity's sake, share with us a school memory from your own childhood.

What is your earliest memory of school, what did you love about the first week of school, who was your favorite teacher, subject, or playground game?

It's funny that this was the topic for our TTA. I teach the 16-17 year olds in Sunday School and they were all dreading going back to school. I remember feelings of excitement and anxiousness to return. Which friends would be in my classes? Would I like my teachers? Would math finally make sense?

Being the youngest of five, starting school was something I always saw my siblings do and I couldn't wait to participate. My mom did attempt to put me in a pre-school class but in the parking lot I ran back to her and waited another year! In elementary school I loved the day when you could go and meet your teacher. When I met my second grade teacher I asked her if we got homework and she told me we would. She explained example assignments and said we would have spelling tests with words like giraffe (isn't it funny what we remember?!) I was so happy to be getting homework!

I actually played the typical jump rope games a lot in elementary school...cinderella dressed in yella, and grade school where you run and jump in while the rope is turning. I was really good at jump rope or at least thought I was! I also loved all the hand clapping rhymes and could do those for hours! One time I was playing on the bars that you can monkey across with your hands while hanging down. Well, one serious disadvantage to being so petite was how far away the first bar was. I jumped out and landed flat on my chest! I thought I had a heart attack but was told the wind was knocked out of me. It really scared me when it happened though.

I can recall wearing white shorts and a turquoise shirt with watermelons on it for my fist day of first grade. In middle school I would lay out all my new clothes for the whole week so excited to get to wear them. I can proudly state however that when overalls were all the trend I did not hang the one strap down as was so popular. I did wear slap bracelets, jellies, button your fly shirt, cut off jean shorts, the sweater that looks like it was crocheted, and the calf length stirrup pants with lace at the bottom paired with a what looks like a maternity shirt. Oh to have such style now!

I was fortunate to have some amazing teachers. I attended the International Baccalaureate program for high school and had teachers that really worked me! College was a breeze for me after high school. I fondly remember my 11th grade history teacher, Mr. Jones. He had a love and passion for teaching and for his students that really motivated me to learn. We would have these huge essay tests and he would show us the 6 essay questions that he was using but we wouldn't know which ones we would get our period. I would go home and write 3 page essays for each one in preparation. I was such a nerd! I was terrible at math however and to this day will do anything to avoid doing it! In 10th grade I got a tutor and was trying so hard to do well. I kept doing horrible on my tests and my teacher, Mr. Wyness told me as I was leaving the classroom to please come back (where was I going to go? I guess he thought I may drop out of the program.) Anyways at the end of the year he signed my yearbook stating that he knew I worked very hard although my grade didn't reflect it. That was important for me for some reason.

Before college, school was always really stressful for me. I was so hard on myself to be so good at my academics. I had stressful times in college too but learned to relax somewhat. I absolutely LOVED college. High school for me wasn't the best experience and I was so happy that things were so different in college. I had a professor at BYU Dr. Jeff Hill that was amazing. I took every class he offered and wanted to have a family like his. He was so passionate for his family and shared wonderful ideas on how to strengthen relationships in the home. My goal is to return to graduate school after my kids are grown to become a school counselor. (passed up that opportunity 5 years ago but that's another post!) I love to learn and recognize that though not in a school setting I am learning new things every day. Yes, I do miss the classroom setting and the rewarding feeling when something "clicks" but am grateful to learn from my daily experiences as well.