James Redstone

Back to School meets Back to the Future meets High School Musical



Posted: Thursday, August 23, 2007

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Oh, how I cherish my youthful days of early-teenage summertime. The older brothers who have just earned a driver’s license who are all-too-willing to take you to Gamestop to pick up some new Wii titles; the buzz of a late-night diet Mountain Dew as you and your buddies duke it out via Risk into the wee hours of the morning; the endless stream of Myspace bulletins as you and your e-friends realize that you really have nothing better than do with your time than painstakingly fill out each and every survey… how I love the sweet smell of yet another successful summer of wasted childhood. But love it or hate it, we’re fast approaching another nigh-interminable school year.

Yet through our precious moments prancing on the dewdrops and blowing bubbles to the wild blue yonder, perhaps there is a dark side to these lovable, idyllic metaphors. Yes, if summer can be something as fun-loving and carefree as a bubble, then this summer’s bubble is about to burst. To some of you, it already has. Poor, unfortunate souls (but you probably get an entire week off for Thanksgiving, so I dare not laugh). But as is often the case in such crises, a veritable bulldozer of soul-searching is required to bludgeon through the equally veritable brick wall of our ever-entrancing waltz through the dance floor of our oh-so-intertwined destinies. What? Patience is a must, dear reader. That, and an industrial-size imagination/thesaurus.

And only now, in the soft glow of my third paragraph, do I even vaguely allude to my characteristically ambiguous title sentence. For you see, as is often the case in the death throes of August, I soon shall return to school. Hence the term “Back to School season", despite the fact that technically, the season doesn’t change from summer to the next until September 23rd. But as chance would have it, Back to School has all the wrong connotations for the occasion. Rather, I’m partial to the 80’s sci-fi comedy Back to the Future, because the mundane implication of Back to School just doesn’t fit. Now, waking up to an alarm clock, rushing out the door to meet the big yellow bus, doing battle with the evil forces of peer pressure and algebra homework, all for days and weeks and months on end - that’s what I would call back to school. No, if I’m going back to anything next week, when my bondage-err, school begins anew, I’m going back… to the Future!

But merrymaking aside, there’s more to this school business than I’ve yet learned. True, I’ve long since outgrown the almost-cramped hallways of my tiny elementary school from years gone by. Yes, yes, I’ve danced my way ‘round the school years in my love-hate relationship with middle school. But this admittedly-small pond, there’s a bigger fish I’ve still gotta fry. What could I mean, if not high school? The realm of Disney’s latest foray into the teeny-bopper market, High School Musical, awaits me. So this is no mere Back to School. Nor is it simply a Back to the Future like I’ve often found the first day of school to be. Rather, what lies ahead of me is the big kahuna of secondary education, the land of dreams and promise and Zac Efron- High School, with all the ups and downs and ins and outs and loop-the-loops and 360 vertical corkscrews therein.

So, as the digital clock at the bottom-right of my computer screen ticks down to the impending end of summer and the world, I can’t help but laugh. Laugh at the sheer inconsequentiality of my life thus far. Laugh at the shenanigans I’ll certainly be a part of in the next few years. Laugh at the fears, the doubts, and the social insecurity that is so lovingly sewn into the fabric of early-teen life. And I’ll laugh at High School Musical, but I’m not yet comfortable enough in my nonconformity to admit to it. But all the same, I feel complete now, to finally get a word in about the neverending cycle of going to school day in and day out, and how with the light at the end of the tunnel coming into view, it’s high tide for a little song and dance to be thrown into the mix of another fast-approaching nigh-interminable school year.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)
» left by Anonymous
 4 years 170 days ago.
Can I hire you to write all my papers this school year?
» left by susan thom
from new jersey 4 years 163 days ago.
james, it is more than apparent that you have a talent to be able to write in an interesting, confusing at times, oh, my God at times, and funny at times way. you are very intelligent, and can put words together that hold the reader's interest. good luck in school, and keep some time for your very sharp writing, best regards, sue thom
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