At the school across the street from my apartment, half the children are huddled up under the awning near the door, waiting in anticipation to get inside, while the other half are outside, enjoying the light drizzle from the sky as they run around in the playground and await the schoolbell.

Today is the day after Labor Day. Today is the first day back at school.

We all have our memories of back-to-school, full of nervousness and excitement and apprehension and wonder. I can remember getting on the bus and sitting next to Elizabeth on my first day of kindergarten, or sitting next to Jonathan, Joanne, and Tiffany in history class on my first day of sixth grade, or getting picked up by Catia at the airport on the first day of my first year at Pearson.

As students, our first days are often filled with glee and sometimes filled with sadness. They shape the school year ahead, and back-to-school memories become stories we tell in subsequent years as we grow older.

But what about teachers? Is the first day of classes a memorable occasion for them? Do they get nervous, excited — are they unsure of what to expect, like their students?

Last week, I spoke to my friend Aurelia who is entering her fifth year as a third-grade teacher. I asked her about the impending first day of school; she told me she was terrified.

I was intrigued. She had lived through almost twenty back-to-school days as a student, and five as a teacher: how could she be terrified?

“What students don’t realize is that teachers have the same fears, the same nervousness as they do. They want to make a good impression. They want to be seen as interesting and cool, they want to be be saying the right things and be carrying the right accessories. They want to be subject of positive conversation in the schoolyard.”

“As a teacher, a large part of my effectiveness is making sure I can connect to each student and make an impression on each one. We’ve been preparing for weeks — months — for the first day, and the night before, we ask ourselves the same questions the students do: what if the kids in the class don’t like me? What if I say something wrong? What if I mess up and nobody wants to hang out with me at recess?”

“The first day back at school is daunting for teachers too — it’s just that the students don’t know it. But as nervous as you are the night before, you always wake up in the morning knowing one important thing that’s going to help you get through the first day…”

“Today, I’m going to make a difference in a someone’s life.”

(Photo by Joseph Robertson.)

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