Yvonne Thevenot MBA(FS) Class of 1999
I remember Grade 9 back to school the most. Four feeder schools to the high school 20 miles down the road. My parents had this tradition that we were given $100 for school clothes. Growing up, Mom bought our clothes, and then at about age 11 we started babysitting or took odd jobs to earn spending money. So $100 just like that – be sure that fall and winter Sears catalogue would magically open in the same spot after hours of research calculating endless combinations of jeans, sweaters, sneakers. Uncertainty, excitement….and plain old unacknowledged, unspoken fear. Would I fit in? Would I stand out? Would I care either way?
Now. Take all those feelings and geometrically multiply them across every kid, every parent, every teacher, every school. Will I stay healthy? What kind of mask will others be wearing? What if others don’t follow the rules?
Let’s face it. This back to school and the points of uncertainty and fear have real life consequences.
So, let’s ask “How was your day?” like never before. Listen to every word spoken, and those that are not. And wrap our hearts around those kids without the “back in my day”. There simply was no “back in your day” like this one.