Welcome to our Back-to-School issue. Well, actually, as far as I can tell, there’s no other mention of going back to school anywhere in these pages – and yes, it seems way too soon – but indeed, for some 100,000+ area students, faculty, and staff, summer is officially over. The exact dates for different schools and school districts vary a bit, but for the Austin Independent School District and some others in the area, today was D-Day: The much-anticipated, much-dreaded, First Day of School. My own household includes a brand-new first-grader, and he has been as trepidatious about this day as he has about anything he’s yet had to face in his young life. Kindergarten was fun – an extension of day-care, really – but first grade? Not only does it carry an unspoken aura of (dare I say) academia, but even the name is ominous – even at six years of age, kids understand the implication: This is the first step on a long path, from which there is no escape, and no turning back. If it works out well, great; if it sucks, well, there goes your life, down the tubes.
So anyway, there I was, waking up this morning circa 7am – a rude shock in itself – and I was reminded of how many people were having this same experience at the same time. At that very moment, in homes all over town, people were batting at alarm clocks, firing up the coffeemaker (or whatever), shaking their loved ones, checking the mirror, cursing, praying, fretting, obsessing – preparing, in their own private ways, for what may be the biggest public event on the annual calendar. By my back-of-the-envelope reckoning, about half the households in Austin participated in this ritual today; more people visited AISD’s 100 or so campuses today than, for instance, will vote in the next general election. And, I dare say, the eventual outcome is going to have a lot more impact on our city’s future. We are, indeed, all in this together.
It goes without saying that the 75,000 students who started school today carried with them a lot of different experiences, expectations, fears, and hopes for the new year. If you or yours are among that throng, I wish you a most happy and productive school year. (Mine, for one, seems greatly relieved after his big day. I just talked to him on the phone, and he says that first grade is “even funner” than kindergarten, and that his feet hurt from running so much. His only regret is that, since he was too worn out to visit me at work, he didn’t get to tell me in person how much fun he had; god, I love that kid.)
So … it’s the second week of August, it’s 101degrees in the shade, the pools are closed, and school is in. Nowhere else but Texas.
This article appears in August 14 • 1998 and August 14 • 1998 (Cover).