Back to School

Few “firsts” compare to the first day of school. There’s a mixed bag of emotions often associated with this inauguration of a new phase for student-athletes worldwide. Some recall school shopping for clothes and supplies while others remember being embarrassed to wear faded fashions from one school year prior because finances were unavailable. Athletes look forward to upcoming seasons with pride and hope that last year’s dismal win-loss tally will prove to have been an anomaly. Coaches and teachers arrive with any number of objectives and motivations not the least of which, for me, includes interacting with vibrant young folks not yet overrun with cynicism.

But the difference from one school year to the next is not defined in the number of months filled with amusement park frolicking, summer league games, family vacations and/or aimless days watching reruns of “That’s So Raven”. The difference is in the perception student-athletes, coaches and teachers have of the immediate future. If you are incorrigible, unreasonable, unmotivated, lacking perseverance, jaded or in the midst of crisis, the only change you can expect this school year is that it will be one of the most unfulfilling experiences to date.

“Back-to-School”  is one of the universal microcosms that reinforces the principle known as “The Fresh Start”. It was and is in school that our orientation to change begins to take shape. From Kindergarten to Senior Prom to Graduate Record Exam there’s a learning curve linked to starting all over and “Back-to-School” is the school master. There’s not a person on the planet who hasn’t benefited from the issuance of “Vita Novum” (New Life) come late August/early September. That’s exactly what “Back-to-School” is…the opportunity to change your entire life starting with a commitment to doing some of your life’s details differently than ever before. The rub is that if you don’t or didn’t appreciate “Back-to-School” moments, the Vita Novum misses you.